Time Travel Trouble
by Mersang
Summary: Formerly titled Elfangor Lives! This features Elfangor, Tom, Arbron, Visser Three's twin, Loren, and Tobias' uncle. (And the Animorphs, of course.) COMPLETE!
1. Jake

Author's Note: This is my first Fic so _please_ be nice. Some people may be out of character. This story replaces book 16: The Warning.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Animorphs.

ON WITH THE STORY!

Chapter One: Jake's POV

My name is Jake. Just Jake. I can't tell you my last name. Believe me, I wish I could. Then I might be able to say I was normal, too.

I'm an Animorph. That's short for animal morpher. I can become any animal I touch.

Since you're reading this, you probably already know about the Yeerks. You probably know about Hork-Bajir and Taxxons and Andalites.

You probably know all about the Animorphs.

Our last battle was a few weeks ago, and it really took a toll on my best friend, Marco. Since we both had some free time, we were wandering the mall, trying to act normal.

Just as I was starting to _feel_ normal, a commotion began at the food court. One familiar voice rose over all the rest.

"Cinnamon buns! Buns! Bun-zuh!" Ax. Marco and I ran to the food court.

Ax, in human morph (duh), was stuffing his face like he hadn't eaten in weeks. Mall cops were closing in on him. But before Marco or I could interfere, someone else did.

"Wait! It's just my brother! He's like that sometimes, he'll calm down in a minute. Excuse me... sorry... Please, just let us handle it. He'll be _fine_." A seventeen/eighteen-year-old guy ran over to Ax. "I can calm him down." Tom darted out of the crowd and followed him. Tom—as in, my brother Tom. A known Controller.

I went white. If Tom was with him, that upped the chances of this guy being a Controller. If they took Ax with them... I shuddered at the thought.

Tom rambled an explanation to one of the mall cops as the other guy tried to 'persuade' (drag) Ax away from Cinnabon. After about five minutes of failure, he grabbed Ax's shoulders, spun him around, and gave him a very dangerous look. Ax froze, and then followed meekly. Tom and the other guy (Tom had told the mall cop the guy's name was Alan and Ax's name was Max) led Ax into the construction site.

"Oh, _that_ was subtle," Tom snapped. "Don't frighten him, you say. Don't say or do anything threatening, you say. _Our cover is blown, I say._ Don't you mean _we_ say? Well, how was I supposed to know you agreed? Read my mind. It should be easy, _since you live in it!_ I live in your brain, Tom. There is a difference between the brain and the mind. I'm not sure what the difference is, but there is one! _SURE THERE IS!_ Now our cover is most DEFINITELY blown."

I was confused. It sounded like Tom and the Yeerk in his head were having a conversation. But neither Tom nor "Alan" had noticed notice Marco or me yet (or cared if they did) so I wasn't complaining.

Alan rolled his eyes and turned to Ax. Ax looked like he expected Alan to pull out a Dracon beam and shoot him. He was terrified.

"Easy, Aximili," Alan said gently. "I'm not going to hurt you." Ax didn't look reassured.

"How do you know my name?" he gasped, apparently to frightened to play with sounds.

"I'll tell you later," said Alan uncomfortably. "Tom, why don't you invite your brother and his friend over here? I think they have a right to see this, too."

"Okay, midget, you heard him, get over here. You too, Marco." Tom's voice had commanding tone that I really didn't want to argue with. It was like my dad saying "you're grounded"—the only answer was "yes, sir."

Marco and I didn't actually say "yes, sir", but we did as he said. Alan seemed about to be psyching himself up to do something—he took a deep breath and closed his eyes—but Tom cut him off.

"Wait, Al. We should do this inside. Anyone could come along and see us out here."

Alan hesitated before nodding. He led Ax into one of the buildings. Tom led Marco and me in after them.

I expected a) Hork-Bajir, b) Taxxons, c) an entrance to the Yeerk pool, d) for Tom and Alan to pull out concealed Dracon beams and shoot us, or e) all of the above.

What we found was f), none of the above. The room was empty.

Alan stepped away from us, into the center of the room. He took a deep breath, closed his eyes... and began to change.

His skin and hair turned blue and extra fingers wormed their way out of his hands. His eyes grew larger and changed to a brilliant shade of green as extra eyes grew out of his head. His nose flattened out and his mouth vanished completely. A bulge grew out of his back and became horse-like hindquarters. His clothing, I noticed, was actually becoming fur. His shoes transformed into hooves. Finally, a massive tail with an amazing blade emerged. Alan was an Andalite. A very familiar Andalite.

My first thought was that he was Visser Three. Then I had a flashback.

He told the mall cops he was Ax's brother. But... Ax's brother was...

Ax gave a shriek of recognition.

"_ELFANGOR!"_

Author's Note:

Me: How many people saw that coming?

Audience: _ME! I DID!_

Me: Excellent. Now if I may direct your attention to the Review button below, please Review while I figure out how to add Chapter Two without doing a separate Fic entirely. I want at least one signed review before I post the next chapter. (Unless the signed review says to give up writing. Constructive criticism only!)

Audience: Aw, man. (Grumbles, then complies.)

Merci pour lis! (French—thank you for reading!)


	2. Marco

Author's Note: Please don't hurt me. I warned you in chapter one some people would be out of character.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Animorphs.

Chapter Two: Marco's POV 

Jake and I stood there with our mouths hanging open. Ax demorphed in about five seconds, looked like he was going to jump on Elfangor and hug him, and then froze, looking suspicious. He glared at us.

[You told me he was dead,] he accused. He sounded hurt.

[They thought I was,] said Elfangor defensively.

"How did you survive?" Jake asked, clearly awed.

[That morph Visser Three was in ripped off most of the burn, and I fell into the Taxxon mob,] Elfangor explained. I noticed an intense anger in his 'voice' as he said "Visser Three". [I had to defend myself until I could use my Taxxon morph, but Arbron made that unnecessary.]

[Who is Arbron?] Ax wondered.

[My friend. He was trapped in Taxxon morph years ago, back when we were both _arisths_. I hadn't seen him in years, but he recognized me. He protected me from the other Taxxons until I finished morphing. After I morphed, they couldn't tell us apart, even though _I_ couldn't speak Taxxon. We were lucky none of those Taxxons were Controllers. I left out some key details when I warned you about the Yeerk invasion.] The last bit was addressed directly to Jake and me.

He rambled on for a while, but I didn't understand much of what he said. There was a lot of stuff about "the Taxxon rebellion", passing mentions of such things as "Skrit Na" and "the Time Matrix", and something about "Sub-Visser Seven". After five minutes, I stopped listening and sort of glazed over. Elfangor seemed to be mostly talking to Ax, who seemed to be hanging on to his every word. Jake was politely trying to look interested, but I doubt he understood any more than I did. I understood the words, but not the context.

[Any questions?] Elfangor asked. I shook myself out of my stupor by shaking my head.

"Actually, yes," Jake said. "Um... just out of curiosity... why didn't you contact us before? We really could've used your help."

Elfangor looked upset... and then... I don't know... almost guilty. Like he was ashamed of himself. It was hard to tell because Andalites don't really have faces, and I know this sounds cliché, but I could see shame in his eyes.

Before he could answer, there was a loud "AH-CHOO!" from the doorway. We all spun around (even though Andalites can't really spin) and saw Tom, hunched over in the doorway, sneezing his head off.

[Gesundaeit,] said Elfangor. The rest of us were to stunned even to say that. We had all forgotten that Tom was there.

Author's Note: I love cliffhangers. The next chapter explains Tom's place in all this. Review some more and I'll post it soon.


	3. Tom

Author's Note: Dedicated to Ciel-Undomiel, my first reviewer, and Anonymous-cat, who REALLY wants to know about Tom's side of the story. (Thank you for pointing out that the anonymous reviews weren't being accepted.) Sorry about the [thing, but my computer won't upload it right.

Disclaimer: I don't own Animorphs or the expression "Marky-O". K.A.A. owns the Animorphs and the phase Marky-O is a creation of Freak Apple.

Elfangor Lives! Chapter Three: Tom's POV 

[Gesundaeit,] Elfangor repeated. [Gesundaeit, gesundaeit, gesundaeit...]

I struggled to stop sneezing, but since it wasn't working, Esp grabbed control and made me breathe through my mouth and plug my nose.

"Thanks," I gasped, unsure whom I was thanking.

[You're story leaves something out, brother,] Aximili said to Elfangor. He gestured towards me with one stalk-eye. [What is his role in all this?]

[THEIR role varies. Mostly Tom provides explanations for my behavior, as he did for yours at the mall today. Esp makes sure no one finds me, and he gave me a Dracon beam to defend myself with incase someone does.]

"Who's Esp?" Marco asked. Esp cleared my throat.

"I am, Marky-O," he said. He crawled out of my ear as he had so often before. I caught him before he could fall to the ground.

Aximili reacted instantly. [YEERK!] he cried, and then tried to slice Esp with his tail blade.

Elfangor shot his own tail blade forward to intercept Aximili's, while I shielded Esp as best I could. Jake looked like he was in shock. He was staring a hole into me.

"I thought you were an involuntary host," he whispered. He sounded like I had betrayed him.

"I was," I explained, "back when I was first infested. I hated Temrash. But Esp is nice. He mostly lets me have control. I need to put back in now," I realized. "He'll dry out. But he will let me talk."

[If it's secure, they SHARE the speech centers,] Elfangor added. [It's very hard to tell them apart then.]

"Darn right it is," said Esp, just to irk everyone. I had slipped him in while Elfangor was complaining.

"So..." said Marco, noticing my hands were empty, "which of you said that?"

"Esp," I answered.

"So... that was Tom?"

"Yes."

[DON'T try to figure out which one's talking when,] Elfangor advised. [It only leads to a migraine.]

"He's right, you know," said Esp in a loud "stage whisper".

[DON'T ASK!] bellowed Elfangor, when Jake opened his mouth. As often happened when he yelled, I was strongly reminded of Visser Three.

"I was going to ask Esp to tell us more about himself," Jake protested.

"Well," Esp began, "since Yeerks are gender neutral, I'm only considered a "he" because of Tom. Esp is short for Esplin 9466 lesser of the Sulp Niaar pool. It's easier to say "Esp". The "lesser" bit means that I'm a twin. Yeerk reproduction is a great deal different than human reproduction. Three Yeerks meld together, into a big blob. Then that blob fragments into littler blobs—thousands of them—called grubs. The grubs grow into Yeerks. Twins are when two Yeerks form from the same grub. One is considered the "prime", and the other one is the "lesser". As I told you, I am the lesser."

"Which still doesn't explain why you're on our side..."

"Oh, that's what you meant. You should've said so. All my former host bodies were involuntary. I hated hearing them scream at me." He hesitated, and only added the next part to me, in thought. [But the screaming wasn't the worst part. The worst part was when they stopped screaming. When they gave up hoping for freedom...and started hoping for death.]

"Do any other Yeerks feel that way?" Jake asked. He looked so hopeful. I could almost see his thoughts, though not like Esp could see mine. If other Yeerks joined them, they could have inside information about the Yeerk Empire's plans. With more information, they could mess more things up.

"A few, but not very many. We're blind in our natural state. Having eyes is so wonderful that most Yeerks feel that hearing a host's cries and pleas are a small price to pay." I could feel anger and shame in Esp's mind as he said this. His anger was towards his people. His shame was at having once felt the same way.

"What about your twin?" Marco asked. "Is he like you? Or like... them?"

"Esi? He's like them. I think he had a few to many promotions than were good for him." Esp was rather wary of promotions. He thought that too much power would drive the promoted person crazy. "He's a Visser now, and a total psychopath. He USED to be really nice. Then he became a Sub-Visser."

[More details,] I prodded mentally.

"What's his rank now?" Jake asked curiously.

"Actually, there's a funny story there... I can never remember his number and as soon as I can, he gets yet another promotion. I now make an effort not to remember. He's crazy enough."

I rolled my eyes. "Esp, you have very bizarre logic. He's Visser Three. There aren't that many ranks left to promote him TO."

"Well, I'm sorry I kept him off the Council of Thirteen, then," said Esp sarcastically.

Aximili seemed to be trying to speak. Finally, he managed a thought-speak squawk.

[HE'S RELATED TO VISSER THREE AND YOU TRUST HIM?] he roared at Elfangor.

Author's Note: I know that in book 16: The Warning, Visser Three's twin was a nasty guy and a cannibal, but I wanted to portray him as a good guy. I think it's a better storyline for them one to be "the good twin" and one to be "the evil twin". Esp being the Visser's twin is VITAL for the rest of the plot.

Besides, this makes a REALLY good cliffhanger. (Sorry, Birdie num num.)

Quick question to reviewers: Who's POV should the next chapter be from? Choices are: Elfangor, Esp, or Aximili. (The other Animorphs show up in the chapter after that, but I want to show what happens next in the abandoned building.) You have until April 12th. GO!


	4. Elfangor

Author's Note: The polls are closed. Congratulations to all the two people who voted for Elfangor.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Animorphs. If I did, this would be in the books, and I'd be paid to write it.

Chapter Four: Elfangor's POV 

[Calm down, Aximili,] I said gently. He was obviously scared. His main eyes were huge and his tail was twitching. I would have said more, but my brother suddenly became hysterical.

[CALM DOWN? HE'S A YEERK! HE CAN'T BE TRUSTED! WHY SHOULD I CALM DOWN?]

"Do you always talk about people you don't like as if they aren't there?" Esp asked Aximili. "Just because I'm RELATED to Esi doesn't mean that I AM Esi." Aximili ignored him.

[You can trust him,] I said calmly.

[Do YOU trust him?] Aximili demanded.

[Yes.]

[WHY?]

[He saved my life. He caught me once while I was demorphing. If he had turned me in, he would have been amazingly rewarded. Instead, he gave me a Dracon beam and suggested I remorph to something less conspicuous. I used a Hork-Bajir I had acquired, and he snuck me down here in a Bug fighter we... borrowed.]

"That was before my Hork-Bajir host was killed in an attack on the Yeerk pool and I was transferred to Tom," said Esp. Tom sneezed again.

"I didn't realize it was dusty in here," said Jake.

"It isn't. Dust isn't what's making me sneeze," Tom answered. "It's my allergy."

"To what? You aren't allergic to anything."

"That's not true," Esp piped up. "Tom has a severe allergy to Andalite fur. You know, Esp, I could've told them about that myself. You're point being?"

"Just a sec," said Jake. He suddenly looked suspicious. "How do we know that you're not just trying to gain our trust so you can kill us?"

"Midget, why in the name of the universe and everything in it would I want to kill you?" Tom demanded indignantly. I could understand why. If Aximili had accused me of something like that—it was unthinkable. I would do anything and everything I could to protect him.

"Well, 'Tom', if that is really you, YOU probably wouldn't," Jake answered coldly. "But how do we know you aren't just working for the Yeerks for some reason and Elfangor isn't really Visser Three in morph?" I considered being offended, but decided it was rather pointless. It might even serve to confirm their fears.

Tom sighed. "You don't. But you could morph Esp and infest us to make sure."

"Okay," said Jake, although he looked slightly sick. "Marco and I will morph Esp and infest you guys at the same time. Ax will stay out here to make sure you don't kill us."

"Okay," Esp said with Tom's voice. He crawled out and Jake and Marco acquired him.

I wasn't thrilled at Tom's idea, but I also couldn't stand the idea of my own little brother not trusting me. If this reassured him, then so help me, I would do it.

"Pick one," said Tom, gesturing to the floor. Two small slugs were squirming around down there.

[Which one is which?] I asked, assuming Tom would want to talk to his brother. Tom shrugged.

"I can't tell. Does it matter?"

[I suppose not.] I reached down and picked up the one closer to me. [This is the most disgusting thing I've ever done,] I thought to myself. I took a deep breath, and, very hesitantly, brought the Yeerk up to my ear. It hurt a bit when it went in, but then my ear canal went numb.

[Um... hi,] said... whichever one it was. [This is Jake,] he said, probably hearing my thoughts.

[Incase you can't tell, this is Elfangor,] I responded formally. I was, by this point, fairly sure Jake was the leader. Both Marco and Aximili seemed to turn to him for instructions.

I felt the uncomfortable sensation of someone looking through my memories. Suddenly, one my memories opened wide. I felt like it was sucking me in.

It was the space battle above Earth. The Blade ship had just appeared. I noticed that most of the other fighters had already been destroyed. The Dome ship had to separate the Dome to be able to fight. I felt my hearts stop. If the Yeerks shot the Dome... Aximili was on there!

The Blade ship fired. The main section of the Dome ship was destroyed instantly. Shock waves struck the Dome itself. It fell towards Earth, burning as it entered the atmosphere.

A Bug fighter seemed to realize I was distracted. A Dracon beam hit my fighter, but I barely noticed. My mind was racing. I was only thinking about Aximili.

He was dead. And it was my fault. I had tried to keep him safe—and I just put him in danger. If I had let him come with me, at least I could have protected him. My fighter could dodge Dracon beams easily. But it was to late. Aximili was dead. And it was my fault.

[I had no idea...] the human called Jake said. [That's why you were shot down? Because you were worried about Ax?]

[Why do you call him that?] I wondered distractedly. The pain of loss was still fresh in my memory. I could barely hear Jake's response.

[His full name is too hard for us to pronounce. Should we... um... tell Ax about this, maybe?]

[NO!] I cried. [Don't tell Aximili.] I felt pathetic saying this, but I couldn't allow Aximili to know. I didn't want him to blame himself for my apparent death, the way I had blamed myself for his.

[I don't see any evidence of sinister intensions,] Jake told Marco, using my thought-speech. Marco used Tom's nose to snort derisively.

"No evil plots in here, either. Tom's seen some of Esp's memories, too, and they seem clean."

After coming out, demorphing, and apologizing for being suspicious, Jake made Aximili apologize for his suspicion as well. The apologies were mostly made to Esp, who insisted that they were unnecessary.

"You had every right to be suspicious."

[In that case, may I take back my apology?] Aximili requested.

"NO, Ax," said Jake firmly.

"Um... guys? Something just occurred to me," said Marco. "We REALLY need to tell everyone else about this. Supposedly DEAD Andalites don't show up very often. Yeerks who are willing to join us are even harder to find."

"You're right, Marco," said Jake. "You go find a phone and call Rachel and Cassie. Ax-"

"Or, you could just ask to borrow my cell phone," Tom interrupted. He pulled it out and handed it over to Marco.

"Ax," Jake continued, "you go find Tobias. Tell him to be at Cassie's barn in half an hour."

[Yes, Prince Jake,] Aximili said, already morphing into a bird I vaguely recognized as a northern harrier.

"Don't call me Prince."

[Yes, Prince Jake.]

"You sound like you've had this conversation before," said Tom.

"We have," Jake informed him.

Author's Note: Whew! Finally! It's done! I typed this whole chapter in third person the first time through, with separate sections for the infesting part. Then I had to put in Elfangor's name in the title (AGAIN) and change all things about it to "I", "me", and "my" (along with a few of his personal thoughts to add some detail) after the majority voted for him.

I know Tom had no known allergies in the Animorphs books, but, like Esp being Visser Three's twin, it becomes very important later on.

No personal offence was intended to the person who voted for Aximili or those who would have voted for Esp. I merely went with the majority of the votes. Check the reviews if you doubt my sincerity.


	5. Cassie

Author's Note: I didn't plan on doing Cassie's chapter yet, but if I went straight to the next one there would have been a minor plot hole that I felt could be avoided, which you'll notice when chapter six is posted.

Chapter Five: Cassie's POV 

The phone rang as I came in the kitchen door. I looked at it helplessly, wondering who could be calling. The Caller-ID read 'Private Number'. Since my parents were out—they were at fundraiser for a local Humane Society—I had to take the call.

"Hello?"

"Hi. May I speak to Cassie?"

"MARCO?" I shrieked into the phone. "Why are YOU calling?"

"Because Jake said to call you and Rachel and tell you that we're meeting in your barn in half an hour. Is that long enough for you to get your dad out of there?"

"Mom and Dad are at a Humane Society fundraiser all day," I told him. "What's wrong?"

"Oh," said Marco—I could almost see him smirking— "nothing's WRONG." He hung up before I could say or ask anything else.

After twenty minutes, I saw Rachel walking to my house.

"Hi, Cassie," she said when she saw me. "Want to hang out?"

"Love to," I said, not sure why she was being so casual. Did she suspect SPIES to be hanging around at MY HOUSE? "Would you like to see the new birds in the barn?"

"Sure." Once we were in the barn, she dropped the overly casual attitude. "Did Marco tell you what this is all about?" she asked me anxiously.

"No," I said truthfully. "All he said was there was a meeting in my barn and nothing was wrong."

"He told me basically the same thing. Then he laughed." She suddenly looked suspicious. "You don't think that maybe..." She trailed off.

"Maybe what?" I prodded.

"Maybe the Yeerks got him somehow, and this is all a trap."

I stared at her. "I thought Marco was the paranoid one."

We spent the remaining eight minutes trying whether or not it was a trap. When Jake and Marco did show up (exactly on time, for once) I decided that Rachel was right, and it was a trap.

They were with two other guys. There was one that I didn't recognize—and one that I did. He looked like an older Jake.

"What's Tom doing here?" Rachel demanded, but she didn't wait for an answer. She began morphing to grizzly bear. Tom yelped in alarm and pulled out a Dracon beam.

"Rachel, demorph. Tom, put that away," said Jake sternly.

"How about I just give you the Dracon beam?" Tom offered Jake.

"I doubt that Rachel would trust anyone but herself with one of those," said the other guy, looking amused. I studied him—he looked vaguely familiar.

"True," said Tom. He turned the Dracon beam around and handed it to Rachel. "I hope you won't mind NOT shooting anyone with this. The settings have been malfunctioning lately, so there's no way to tell which setting it's really on. Well, now you now better than to try changing it's programming, DON'T YOU? Shut up. Make me! Okay." Tom fell silent and sat down on the nearest bale of hay. The other guy shook his head and rolled his eyes at the ceiling.

"I am amazed that you two haven't driven each other crazy yet," he said. Tom smirked.

"The key word there is 'yet'. We're extremely close to it."

"We?" I repeated. "Who is 'we'?" The other guy sighed again.

"Well, since I for one don't particularly want to explain this THREE times, can we wait for Tobias?"

"Sure," said Rachel. She was keeping the Dracon beam aimed at Tom, and I doubted that she had even heard the question.

The guy suddenly jumped, looking alarmed. "I need to demorph," he muttered. He transformed so quickly I couldn't even see it. When he was done, I wondered if I was seeing him properly.

Where there had been a vaguely familiar guy, there was now a very familiar Andalite. It had been dark the only other time I had seen him, and he was now uninjured, but I recognized him just the same. I backed away slowly, my jaw hanging open.

Then Tobias showed up.

Author's Note: I know I stole the last line from Animorphs #4: The Message, but it fits so well! I'm sorry it's a cliffie. It wasn't supposed to be. But if it wasn't, I couldn't fit it almost seamlessly with the next chapter.

(Mob begins gathering.) NO MORE CLIFFIES! NO MORE CLIFFIES!

Me: I'M SORRY! REALLY! I BEG FOR YOUR FORGIVENESS! PLEASE DON'T HURT ME!

Mob: NO MORE CLIFFIES! NO MORE CLIFFIES! NO MORE CLIFFIES!

Me: (Runs away, trying desperately to avoid making the next chapter a cliffie.)


	6. Tobias

Author's Note: And now, here's...(drum roll sound in background) Tobias! How will he react? (This is before book 23, so he doesn't know that Elfangor is his father...yet.) Dedicated to PhebgaMFM.

mimichica: Loren WILL show up later, I promise, but I'm not sure how I'm going to bring her in.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Animorphs characters, but I do own a copy of each book.

Chapter Six: Tobias' POV 

I was sitting on my favorite perch, looking for mice in my meadow. So far, I hadn't had any luck. After about three hours, Ax-man showed up.

[Tobias!] he cried. He sounded really stressed.

[What's wrong, Ax-man?] I asked him.

[Prince Jake says to meet at Cassie's barn in five of your minutes!]

[You're sure?] I demanded. The barn was almost five minutes away in good weather. At the moment, it was rather windy.

[Actually, he said half an hour, but that was twenty-five of your minutes ago.]

I spread my wings. [Then we'd better get going.]

The flight there was actually pretty easy. The wind was blowing from the right direction, and actually sped our journey. Even so, we were a bit late. I flew into the barn and headed for my usual perch on one of the rafters. Then I saw something that almost made me fly INTO the rafter, just to be sure I wasn't dreaming.

Lounging on a bale of hay, playing with a piece of straw, was Jake's brother, Tom. Fully demorphed, and inspecting one of the caged animals, was Ax's brother, Elfangor.

Jake and Marco both looked totally calm, Cassie was staring at Elfangor with her mouth hanging open, and Rachel was pointing a Dracon beam at Tom. It was all so bizarre that I focused on the most unimportant detail.

[Where did you get that Dracon beam, Rachel?] I asked her. She gestured towards Tom.

"He gave it to me."

"I realized that none of you would trust me with it, and Jake refused to take it," Tom added.

[WHAT is going on?] I demanded of the room in general.

"We don't know yet," said Cassie.

"Since we didn't want to explain everything THREE times, we were waiting for you so we'd only have to explain twice," Tom informed me.

[Who is "we"?] I asked. Tom rolled his eyes.

"Elfangor, Tom and Esp," said Jake, as though that explained everything.

[Who's Esp?]

Tom rolled his eyes, and then closed them. Seconds later, a Yeerk squirmed out of his ear. I was surprised that Tom didn't drop it on the floor and stomp it. The first time we were down in the Yeerk pool, Tom's Yeerk had been feeding. I could still remember seeing him, struggling in the cage, screaming at the guards.

"Esp, or 'Esplin Nine-Four-Double-Six lesser of the Sulp Niaar pool', is the Yeerk who currently lives in my head." Tom calmly lifted the Yeerk back up to his ear.

[I thought that you were an involuntary host,] I protested.

"MUST we go through the SAME explanations EVERY time?" he muttered to himself—or so it seemed. "Yes, it appears that we must."

It took about an hour for them to finish explaining. (A/N: For a summary of what they said, read chapters two and three. For the bit about the Taxxon rebellion, read the Andalite Chronicles.)

[How did you even find out about us?] I asked.

"Midget's been talking in his sleep," said Tom. "I've heard blow-by-blow accounts of most of your battles that way, including the graphic descriptions of how gross morphing is. We added in the fact that Jake's always gone during the attacks, and what Elfangor could remember about you guys. A MORON could figure it out—proven by the fact that Tom did. HEY! It was a JOKE, Tom. What happened to your sense of humor?" Tom began explaining EXACTLY what happened to his sense of humor as Cassie posed another question.

"Why didn't you contact us before?" she asked Elfangor. Elfangor looked away embarrassedly.

[I couldn't. I was hiding on the Blade ship for months. After that... well, I also wasn't sure any of you were even still alive-]

"He almost killed me when he found out that I'd known Aximili was alive and hadn't told him," Tom/Esp slipped in, taking a break from his ranting.

[-so, I suppose... I just never really thought about it until today.]

"Although telling Aximili in private thought-speak that he was leaving the mall with us if we had to carry him out was probably unnecessary," Tom added. Then he burst out laughing.

Author's Note: (Runs away from angry mob, screaming:) I DID NOT, I REPEAT, I DID NOT, INTEND THIS CHAPTER TO BE A CLIFFIE!!! I don't personally consider this a cliffie, but some people do. That's why I had Elfangor answer Cassie's question. I really wanted to end it there, but I also wanted to know the answer myself. I honestly didn't know what Elfangor was going to say! Then I remembered the Taxxons going back onto the Blade ship in book 1, and that I wrote that Esp found Elfangor demorphed ON THE BLADE SHIP, so I thought, "Hey, maybe he was stuck there for a few months!" Besides, I also wanted to show real the reason Ax went with Tom and Elfangor. I mean, what kind of warrior is intimidated by a dangerous look? That's why Esp was mad at Elfangor in chapter one. I don't know what will happen next. Oh, wait! I do! Next I'll write from Aximili's POV about how Arbron shows up!


	7. Aximili

Author's Note: I'm sorry I didn't upload this faster. I wrote some of this chapter while waiting for the votes on whose POV chapter four should be from, but then I got major writer's block, and had to change this one slightly so that it was the right story. First it was going to be 'how Elfangor adjusted to living in Ax's scoop'. Now, it's 'how Arbron shows up'.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Animorphs, and you really should know that by now.

Chapter Seven: Aximili's POV

"So, Elfangor, were are you going to hide now?" Cassie asked. "I mean, we can't go to the construction site every time we need your help or opinion about something."

[Why not?]

"Because our parents would ground us until we're in college if they find out we've EVER gone there," Prince Jake explained.

[Why would they do that?]

"Because the construction site is supposedly really dangerous."

[Prince Jake, I have a suggestion, if I may offer it,] I said cautiously. I glanced at my brother, wondering why he hadn't reacted to my title for Prince Jake yet.

"Sure, Ax. Just don't call me Prince."

[Yes, Prince Jake. Elfangor could stay at my scoop in the woods. That is... if he wants to.] I turned to my brother, trying to guess his answer.

[I would be delighted,] said Elfangor graciously. It was in vain that I tried to hide my excitement. I had missed my brother a great deal. I had so much I wanted to speak with him about.

"Okay, so we've settled that issue. Here's another—how the heck is Elfangor going to acquire battle morphs?" asked Marco.

"Why the heck would he need any?" Tom/Esp shot back. "He's deadly enough in Andalite form."

[For spy missions, I acquired a cockroach in the construction site. I can acquire a bird morph right here and now,] Elfangor added. He reached out for the caged seagull he had been examining. [These birds appear to be quite common in this area.]

"Yeah, they are. You might want to acquire a bird of prey morph too, though," Cassie advised him. "Incase we need to move really fast."

[Wouldn't duck or goose morphs more inconspicuous? They are more commonly seen flying in groups, are they not?]

Everyone stared at Elfangor. They mostly looked shocked. Cassie, however, was smiling.

"That's a great idea," she said. "I'm amazed none of us thought of it before."

"Well, if everything is settled-"Jake began, but Marco interrupted him.

"It's not. What about Esp?"

"What about me?" Esp snapped.

"Well, where are you going to stay?"

"Um... Tom's place, maybe?" His sarcasm was obvious, even to me. "His parents will get worried if he disappears."

[We have a bigger problem, actually,] said Elfangor. [If we aren't going back to the construction site, how are we going to tell Arbron about this?]

"Returning to the site will be unnecessary," said Tom/Esp instantly.

[And why would that be?] my brother inquired.

Tom/Esp pointed at a hole, which had suddenly appeared before the barn door. "Because Arbron has followed us here."

As though in confirmation of his words, a large Taxxon emerged from the hole. I was forcibly reminded of Esp crawling out of Tom's ear. The squirming motions were the same, except that this was both vertical and much larger.

Once it was completely out of the tunnel, the Taxxon raised the front third of its body, so that it towered above us. I must admit—I was frightened. This Taxxon was huge even by Taxxon standards. He looked, to my terrified eyes, like he could swallow me whole it one casual bite.

[HAVE YOU BEEN HERE ALL THIS TIME?] the Taxxon roared at my brother.

[Have you been practicing perfect imitations of the Living Hive?] Elfangor responded.

[I asked you first.]

[Well, how would you define 'all this time'?]

[Answer my question and I'll answer yours,] the Taxxon shot back.

[But I need the answer to my second question to answer your first question,] my brother protested.

[JUST ANSWER!] the Taxxon bellowed, clearly losing patience.

[Okay, then yes,] Elfangor said meekly. [I have been here 'all this time'.]

[No, I have not been practicing perfect imitations of the Living Hive, and I define 'all this time' as being 'the previous twenty-three minutes', or 'since I realized that you weren't in the construction site'.]

"Midget, Marco, Rachel, Cassie, Aximili, Tobias, this is Arbron," said Tom/Esp. "Arbron, these people are—"He stopped, then turned back to us. "Well, as I don't think he's listening to me, you all can introduce yourselves later."

Arbron suddenly seemed to notice us. [Who are YOU?] he demanded.

"And, of course, he asks that AFTER I attempt to make introductions," Tom/Esp muttered.

Prince Jake made the introductions instead. "I'm Jake, this is my best friend Marco, that's my cousin Rachel, that's Rachel's best friend, Cassie, Tobias is the one in the rafters, and this is Ax." He gestured towards each Animorph, and then towards me.

Arbron looked at me—or at least, he turned his head in my general direction. I noticed Elfangor going completely rigid.

[Are you two related?] he asked me, pointing at Elfangor with one of his claws.

[We're brothers,] I answered timidly.

[Ah, yes. Elfangor has told me a great deal about you.]

[I wish I could say the same,] I said, as politely as I could. I wondered uneasily if Taxxons could smell fear, the way that Tobias had told me dogs could.

[I DID tell you about him!] Elfangor protested. [Weren't you listening when I explained about how he saved my life?]

[It wasn't very hard,] Arbron informed him. [They were all Taxxon rebels, and my friends. They trusted me—even though they were upset that they couldn't eat you.]

After a five minute period, during which Arbron apologized for yelling, debated with Cassie whether or not he should be allowed to eat a fatally injured raccoon he had been eyeing, and was told how we had found out about Elfangor's survival, he tuned to me and asked a question I guiltily felt should have come up sooner.

[Why were you at the mall by yourself in the first place?]

[Well...] I began, somewhat embarrassed. [I found some human currency on the ground and decided to go buy a cinnamon bun. Unfortunately, once I began eating I was unable to stop myself.]

[Ah,] said Arbron sympathetically. [There's no shame in that. Appetites are very hard to control sometimes.]

Tom/Esp snorted. "So says the Bottomless Pit."

Author's Note: So, what do you think? (IT'S NOT A CLIFFIE, I TELL YOU! THIS IS NOT A CLIFFIE! IT'S A BREAK BETWEEN CHAPTERS, BUT IT IS NOT A CLIFFIE!) You have three choices: Give me a nice review and be loved by me forever, give me a bad review and be ignored, or don't give me a review at all, which I won't care about because I either won't know you've read this chapter or won't even know that you exist.


	8. Arbron

Author's Note: I am SO SORRY that I took so long to update this.

Mob: LONG? It was THREE WEEKS! You were on the SECOND PAGE! IF YOU'RE NOT SORRY YET, YOU WILL BE IF THIS CHAPTER WASN'T WORTH THE WAIT!

Me: Well, I least I didn't abandon my story for three MONTHS like Blue Dragon!

Blue Dragon fans: HEY!

Me: No offence! I'm a Blue Dragon fan myself. I recommend all her fics—I just haven't gotten her on my favorites list yet! But come on...THREE MONTHS?

Mob: JUST TYPE THE DISCLAIMER AND GET ON WITH THIS CHAPTER!

Disclaimer(s): The Animorphs are not mine. Elfangor is not mine. Arbron is not mine. Tom is not mine. I feel that Esp SHOULD be mine, because I altered him to be the way he is in this fic, but as he is still Esplin Nine-Four-Double-Six Lesser of the Sulp Niar pool, he still belongs to K. A. Applegate.

Chapter Eight: Arbron's POV 

I was hungry. This was nothing new—I was trapped in Taxxon morph, and Taxxons are always hungry. But I was more than hungry right then. I was angry, scared, and in a potentially dangerous position. And the Taxxon way to deal with that was to eat whatever/whoever was making it angry or scared, or putting it in danger.

In fact, if Elfangor hadn't been there, I probably would have tried to eat someone.

This was also induced by the fact that I hadn't eaten for several days. Taxxon hunger made it quite easy to sympathize with Aximili. He had no reason to be ashamed of eating. Although that shame could be because human bodies are much more self-controlled when it comes to the appetite. As Tom had said, I was a bottomless pit—a common trait among Taxxons.

[Hello? HELLO? Arbron, this is Elfangor. Do you read me?]

[What?] I asked, jolted. [How am I supposed to read you? You don't have text in your fur, and even if you did, Taxxon eyes wouldn't be good enough to read it.]

[It's an expression, Arbron. I'm asking if you can hear me and understand what I'm saying.]

[What's the point of that?]

[Well, it did get you attention quite effectively. Now I can ask my real question and get a real answer.]

[What question?]

Tom rolled his eyes. This seemed to be his favorite activity. "Have you been paying any attention at all?"

[Not very much, after that Bottomless Pit comment.]

"Since when do you take that offensively?"

[I don't. I was just thinking about how applicable it is to me.]

[ARE YOU GOING TO ANSWER MY QUESTION OR NOT?] Whatever he might say of my volume, Elfangor had just performed a flawless Living Hive impression. I presumed Esp was in control of Tom's face, because he was the only one who didn't flinch. His twin bellowed like that all the time.

[That depends. What is the question?] I was calming down, now that I knew my friends were in no danger.

[How did you follow us here from underground?] Elfangor also seemed to be calming down. The change in mood was so sudden it was almost disturbing.

[Never underestimate a Taxxon's sense of smell,] I told him. [This particular one happens to be a tracker.]

"So... you can follow people above ground, but stay underground yourself?" This came from the one who looked (from what I could see with Taxxon eyes), sounded, and smelled like Tom. Jake, he said his name was. Tom's little brother. Although maybe 'little' wasn't the right word, as he was fairly large.

Large meant semi-filling... and humans were so appetizing...

I gave myself a mental slap. If Tom found out that I had seriously considered eating his brother, he would literally kill me.

[Yes, but only if I know what scents to sniff for,] I explained. Talking kept my mind off of my stomach. [I have to have smelled the person at least once to recognize them. Like a human police dog.] Tom had made this comparison when I first told him about it. I didn't quite understand it, but it seemed to get the point across.

[The Yeerks were using tracker Taxxons when those two Hork-Bajir escaped,] the bird said suddenly. [Do you remember, Ax? You told me about them.]

[Yes.] Elfangor's brother seemed to be struggling to remember something. After a moment, he spoke. [A tracker Taxxon is a special breed. They are fairly rare, but very effective when searching for either a missing person or a dead body. The one problem is their tendency to try and eat the body or person they find, although that made them perfect for the Yeerks' purpose. They also tend to be larger, stronger and smarter then normal Taxxons.]

[How do you know all this?] Elfangor demanded. [Since when have you been a Taxxon expert?]

Aximili looked embarrassed. [Well, I... I did a report on Taxxons to... to make up for my failing grades in exo-biology. There was a list of species to chose from, and...Taxxons were the only ones I'd heard of. I... I didn't pay much attention in exo-biology class. My report just barely kept me from failing.] He looked at Elfangor apologetically, (again, from what I could see with Taxxon eyes,) then became fascinated with the floor.

[Wait a minute, back up, two Hork-Bajir escaped?] I turned my pathetic compound eyes upward, towards the hawk.

"Oh, did I forget about that, too?" Esp demanded, slapping Tom's forehead.

"How would you have even known?" Jake asked him skeptically.

"Well, Esi was only totally enraged about it for two weeks, so I'm not sure why it stood out in my memory. Does it matter?"

[Ellimist was involved. He helped the Hork-Bajir, not that he admitted it,] Tobias put in.

[_ELLIMIST?!_] Elfangor shrieked. Then, scornfully, [I should have guessed.]

"Can we get back on topic?" Jake requested.

"What topic?" the smallest human (Marco, I believe,) wondered. "Did we ever have one?"

"We were discussing where Elfangor was going to stay next," Cassie reminded him. "I think we've covered it, actually. So, Arbron, are you going to stick with Elfangor or stay in the construction site?"

I swirled my upper body to face Elfangor. [You're leaving the site?] I demanded.

[I'm going to be staying with my brother. It's an issue of convenience,] he said defensively.

I turned back to Cassie. [I don't stay in the site. I stay with the rest of the Taxxon rebels, up in one of the mountains. I just have tunnels to the places I go a lot.]

Esp made a bizarre choking noise, which he often made when trying not to laugh. He may have been the one advocate for Yeerk-host cooperation, but he certainly used Tom's vocal chords far more than Tom did. I seemed to be the only one who could almost always tell who was speaking when.

After about five more minutes, the 'Animorphs' as they called themselves, all had to leave. Tom left along with his brother. Aximili morphed bird and fluttered up to join Tobias. He perched, and looked down towards Elfangor, his head cocked.

[Aren't you coming?]

Elfangor glanced at me, hesitating. He clearly wanted to go with his brother, but didn't want to leave me behind.

[Oh, go ahead,] I told him. [I'll catch up.]

[How? If I use a bird morph, I'll be in the air.]

[I'll find you once you've landed and demorphed.]

[Oh.] Not looking very reassured, Elfangor began morphing nonetheless. I headed back into my tunnel.

Inside the tunnel, with five feet of dirt and rock between me and the surface, my old Andalite claustrophobia kicked in. Of all the Andalite instincts to stay with me, why did it have to be that one? The darkness, the damp, and the pressure of dirt against the skin was comforting to a Taxxon. Any of these sent the average Andalite into panic—especially the last one. It was like my own mind was trying to drive me crazy.

I waited for five minutes before I sniffed, picking up a faint trace of Elfangor's scent and zeroing in on it. As always, I emerged six feet away so as not to eat him by accident. I also had to be careful not to come up right under anything else. Once I had tried to surface inside a building—even Taxxon digestive systems are not designed for moldy concrete.

Careful as I was, I squirmed up almost directly under Aximili. I was amazed at the fact I hadn't noticed him, that Elfangor didn't slice me in half, and that Aximili slept through the entire thing.

[Be careful!] Elfangor snapped in private thought-speak.

[Why is he asleep?] I asked. [I thought that you two would be up all night catching up on each other's recent lives.]

[He's had a very stressful day, Arbron. It's only natural for him to be tired.]

[You sound like his parent, not his brother,] I teased.

[Well, why not? Our parents are eighty-two light-years away. I'm all he's got.] Then, more quietly, Elfangor added: [I have to protect him. He's all I've got.]

[You've got me,] I protested.

[I know, Arbron. But that's different. You're my shorm. Aximili's my brother.]

I felt rather sorry for Elfangor right then. My sense of humor (a rarity among both Taxxons and Andalites) had been worn out with my last joke. [Don't get overprotective, Elfangor. You don't want your brother to become a coward.]

Elfangor gave me a very dirty look. [What are you implying?]

[I'm not implying anything. I'm just stating a fact,] I said defensively. [What about Tobias?] I asked suddenly. Wow, THAT was certainly a safe subject. Did I have a death wish or something?

[What about Tobias?]

[He's your son, isn't he? You told me while we were hiding on the Blade ship.]

[He doesn't know that,] Elfangor snarled. [And anyways, how am I supposed to tell him?]

I hesitated. That was a tough question. How was Elfangor going to tell Tobias? More importantly, would Tobias believe him when he did?

Author's Note: Look, I realize that it's technically a cliffie, but it's also one-thousand-five-hundred-and-twenty-one words.

Mob: IT'S STILL A CLIFFIE!

Me: Well... it's fun to do cliffies. I can now sympathize with all my fellow writers whom I formerly criticized for their cliffhanger endings. They're so much easier!

Mob: (Various people raise torches/pitchforks.) DIE! DEATH TO CLIFFIES! DIE! DIE! DIE!

Me: Wait! I have a bit more to say! (Pitchforks and torches lower slightly.) Elfangor will be a bit overprotective of Ax for a while. Ax will not be too happy about this. Tobias will learn that Elfangor is his father in the next chapter. He will be in shock about this. The next chapter is from Rachel's POV. Hopefully, I will write her personality accurately, and Rachel fans will be overjoyed about this. I will post it... once it has been typed. My fans (if I have any) will hopefully be pleased about this.


	9. Rachel

Author's Note: In response to several reviewers (you know who you are) you were warned in chapters 1 and 2 that some people would be out of character. There won't be any more uploads for a while. This chapter was late because my mom decided that I wasn't allowed to use the computer until AFTER a major test.

Mob: WELL, THAT TOOK LONG ENOUGH! DEATH TO TESTS! DEATH TO YOU IF YOU ARE DELAYED IN YOUR TYPING BECAUSE OF TESTS! DIE!

Me: WAIT! You can't kill ME!

Mob: WHY NOT?

Me: Because if you do, you'll never find out what happens next! Anyway, I'm typing this, and I don't want to die.

Mob: (grumbles, but lowers various weapons from curiosity.)

Me: To Rachel fans—Rachel may SEEM out of character for a bit, but I'm trying to show her beneath the tough exterior. Even Xena needs some whimsical fantasies. Oh, and let's just say that books 16 and 23 happened at about the same time—minus the missing Hork-Bajir kid.

Disclaimer: (bursts into tears) I don't own the Animorphs! (SOB!) Oh, well... at least I can make them do whatever I want in my stories! (Smiles optimistically.)

Chapter Nine: Rachel's POV

I woke up early the next morning, half-convinced that I had dreamed about Elfangor surviving, Tom and his Yeerk getting along, and that Taxxon that used to be an Andalite. While I was at it, I decided to pretend that the entire Yeerk invasion had been a dream. Then someone knocked on my door, shattering my ruse.

"Rachel? Are you up yet?" The voice was male, and I tried to imagine it was my father, and that my parents' divorce had been a dream, too. Unfortunately, the voice wasn't deep enough to be my father, and I recognized it as Tom's.

"What do you mean, YET?" I grumbled. He probably couldn't hear me, but I didn't care. "It's..." I glanced at my alarm clock. "SIX A.M.?" I roared, suddenly more awake than I'd been in weeks. "YOU CAME BY AT SIX A.M. AND YOU ASK ME IF I'M UP YET?"

"That should be self-explanatory, cousin. Oh, by the way, you might want to bellow a bit more quietly. I think you woke at least half the solar system—the deaf and dead half. Isn't bellowing quietly an oxymoron? No, Esp, it's a joke." Then I heard him whisper: "Let's keep it down in here... I don't want Jordan or Sara to think I've gone crazy. Okay."

"What are you doing here, anyways?" I demanded.

"You've still got... that model phaser I lent you yesterday. I need it back."

"Model phaser?" I repeated. Then I remembered—I had never given back his Dracon beam. He obviously wouldn't dare speak more clearly with my mom and sisters around. "Oh—that model phaser!" I picked it out of the heap of clothes I'd worn yesterday, opened the door a bit, and passed it out to him.

"Thanks, Rachel. Hey, I almost forgot, midget said to ask if you and Cassie wanted to go hiking this afternoon with him and Marco."

"Marco? Hiking? That proves it—I have, in fact, heard everything."

"So, does that mean no, or that you'll come for the laughs?"

"I'll come for the laughs. Where and when?"

"The woods behind Cassie's place. One o'clock."

"Okay. Now go away—I'm not done sleeping yet." I set my alarm clock to wake me up at eleven before I fell back asleep.

When I woke up, I called Cassie. "Hi, Cassie. Are you doing anything this afternoon?"

"Not really. Jake called and suggested we go hiking. What do you think?"

"That'd be fun. Where and when?"

"Woods behind my place. One o'clock."

"I'll see you then. Bye!"

"Good-bye."

I ate a quick lunch, then started out for Cassie's place. I wanted to walk, so I had to start out early. Walking there would hopefully get me in the mood for 'hiking'.

When I got there, Cassie, Jake, Marco, Ax, Tobias, Tom and Elfangor had assembled. Ax, Elfangor, and Tobias were in their human morphs.

"So," said Marco, "any particular reason we're all here, fearless leader?" We all looked at Jake expectantly.

"Um... well, why did you want us to meet?" he asked Cassie.

"What?" she demanded. "YOU called ME to say we were meeting this afternoon!"

"No, I didn't," Jake objected. "You called me about this, and Tom forwarded the message!" Suddenly, he turned to his brother suspiciously. "TOM?"

"Esp, actually. I knew that you wouldn't trust me if I told you it was my idea, so I pretended it was Cassie's. I imitated your voice on the phone, and when I finished I told you that Cassie had suggested the meeting. Tom, Arbron and Elfangor were the only ones who knew it was my idea."

"You knew we wouldn't trust you, and you've just guaranteed it," snarled Ax. "Lying does not influence trust."

I felt that there was something odd about that statement, but it took me a moment to figure it out. Ax hadn't played with sounds.

"Aximili, he had a good reason!" snapped Elfangor. "Esp, kindly explain to why this meeting is so important."

"Actually, it's mostly to inform Tobias that Esi's posing as his long lost cousin or something so as to lure him into a trap and find out if he's connected to the 'Andalite Bandits' in any way. Something about Tobias dropping off the known face of the planet made him suspicious."

"Who's Esi?" Cassie asked.

"My twin—I told you yesterday! Anyways—"

"So why would Visser Three CARE about Tobias 'dropping off the known face of the planet?" I demanded. "For all he knows, Tobias might have just run away or something. Out of every missing person in the country, what made him suspect Tobias?"

"Tobias is a special case." Tom/Esp grinned and winked at Elfangor.

"Perhaps it is because Tobias disappeared shortly after you began resisting?" Ax suggested.

"Oh, my—"Tom/Esp whirled and stared at Elfangor. "YOU DIDN'T TELL THEM YET?"

"Didn't tell us WHAT?" Tobias spoke up at last. He sounded indignant.

Tom/Esp suddenly smiled almost sweetly at Elfangor. "Do you want to tell him or shall I?"

"What do you mean?"

"Come ON Elfangor, Tobias has a right to know that you're his father!"

A sudden silence greeted these words. Marco broke it with his three favorite words.

"ARE YOU INSANE?"

"No. I simply believe that the truth should be known. This includes that Tobias is Elfangor's son, Esi is trying to capture him because of this, and that Tom has developed a crush on—DON'T YOU DARE TELL THEM!"

"Who is it?" Jake asked eagerly.

"Do you honestly expect us to believe any of this?" Ax interrupted. He had actually been trying to get a word in since Marco had questioned Tom and Esp's collective sanity.

"Well, why not? It is the truth."

"How do we know that? You lied to all of us about whose idea this meeting was. For all we know, you're making this all up to lure us into a trap."

"Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill, if I wanted to do that, I would have by now. If you don't trust me, ask your brother." He smiled at Elfangor. "I doubt that HE will deny the truth."

Ax glared at Esp. "I doubt that YOU are TELLING the truth." He, too, smiled at Elfangor. "Exactly how big a lie is this worm telling?" Elfangor sighed.

"First of all, he's not a worm. Second of all, he's not lying."

THUD. Tobias sat down very quickly. Well, fell down, really. He stared up at Elfangor, eyes wide, and jaw hanging open. Ax wore an identical expression. The only real difference was that Ax was standing up.

"Chill, guys," Esp said coolly. "You already KNOW I'm not a worm."

Elfangor clapped his hand over his eyes and shook his head.

"How is this even possible?" Tobias gasped.

Esp opened Tom's mouth (at least, I assumed it was Esp) but Elfangor raised a hand to cut him off. "I'll tell him myself, thank you."

"When?" Tom/Esp snarled. "Next year?"

"I...um...well," Elfangor began to speak very quickly to Tobias. "I - trapped - myself - in - human - morph - because - your - mother - and - I - were - in - love - and - then - a - few - years - after - we - got - married - Ellimist - showed - up - and - said - I - had - to - go - back - to - the - Andalite - fleet - and - I - didn't - even - KNOW - that - she - was - pregnant - until - after - I - left."

"And saying all that did not suffocate you WHY?" Tom/Esp prodded.

"Esp, do me and the entire universe a favor—SHUT UP!"

"But I didn't say anything!" he objected. Elfangor made an incoherent noise that sounded like he was trying not to scream. Suddenly, he smirked.

"I now know why you two haven't driven each other crazy yet. You've been to busy driving me crazy instead."

Author's Note: NO! WRITER'S BLOCK!

Mob: DIE, WRITER'S BLOCK!

Me: Why do you always talk in capitals?

Mob: BECAUSE YOU TYPE IT THAT WAY!

Me: Sorry—I forgot. Hey, my writer's block is gone! I have an idea! I'm thinking I'll have Loren show up in the next chapter. Esp will narrate. I'll go type it now...

Mob: HUZZAH!


	10. Esp

Author's Note: Voila! Ladies, gentlemen, and not-so-gentle-men, I give you—the perspective of Esplin Nine-Four-Double-Six lesser of the Sulp Niaar pool!

Disclaimer: I can't say it! I won't say it! See previous chapters!

Chapter Ten: Esp's POV 

"Elfangor, we have better things to do than driving you crazy." Tom informed him.

"Then why don't you DO them?"

I rolled Tom's eyes. This is a human activity that I frequently use to express annoyance, or to cause it in others. In this case it was both. "Because this is way more fun."

"I don't know why I even bothered asking."

"Neither does anyone else, and since it's so pointless, let's just say that this conversation never happened, shall we?" I suggested. Or maybe it was Tom, even I couldn't always tell.

[No, that was you,] he told me.

RING, RING-RING-RING RING RING-RING! Tom's cell phone began to play 'It's A Small World After All'.

[Refresh my memory,] I requested. [Why exactly did you have to pick the most irritating song on this planet for your cell phone to ring the tune of?]

[You just explained.] I gave a mental sigh.

[Are we going to answer it?]

[No, it's probably not important.] The song had been completed—the answering machine was activated. With the way that the phone had been programmed, everyone heard it.

"Hi, this is Tom. I A) am busy, B) can't get to my phone, or C) don't feel like talking to you right now. If it's important, leave a message, and I'll hopefully get back to you... eventually."

"Gee, thanks, Tom," snapped the irritable voice at the other end. "I'm going to die because you couldn't be bothered to answer your own phone? PICK UP!"

Tom picked up. "Loren? What happened?"

"Nothing serious, I'm just being chased by Hork-Bajir and I think Visser Three recognized me."

"Where are you now?" I asked her.

"The mall. I'm hoping that the Visser will somehow be sensible enough not to want any witnesses, but since I doubt it, I'm starting to think I should leave before I endanger innocent people."

"Good idea. Um, go through the construction site, and hide in the smallest building. We'll be there in a sec—"

"GIVE ME THAT!" Elfangor screeched. He attempted to tackle us, but as Tom was an athlete and used to tussle with Jake or his friends we had the advantage. Tom usually fought rather crudely, though. He still had to fight the Hork-Bajir while I was feeding, so as not to blow our cover, but he didn't really want to escape.

Once Elfangor was on the ground, Tom placed a foot on his chest to hold him down and said to Loren: "Al says hi. You want to talk to him?"

"Um, let me think... YES, obviously." Tom passed Elfangor the phone.

Elfangor jabbered semi-incoherently into the phone for a few minutes. He was filling Loren in on what had happened with us and demanding details on what had happened to her. Or at least I think that's what he said. I wasn't sure if Loren could understand him either, and she didn't seem able to get a word in edgewise.

"FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE, ELFANGOR, JUST SHUT UP FOR FIVE BLOODY SECONDS AND I'LL EXPLAIN!" I heard her bellow finally. Elfangor fell silent, but it was mostly from shock.

"Who is Loren?" Aximili wondered. Elfangor made a little 'go away' gesture towards him, so I took it upon myself to explain.

"Loren is Tobias' mother, Elfangor's wife, and a person who, as a teenager, threw a rock in Esi's face, which is why he'd recognize her."

[ Must you add a bit of pointless information to everything you say?]

[It's not pointless, Tom. It's just barely relevant to the conversation.]

"She also looks a great deal like Rachel, which may explain why Tobias seems to like Rachel so much—ESP!"

[What? It's true. Tobias may be attracted to Rachel because his subconscious mind connects her appearance with his mother's, and thus-]

[Maybe true, Esp, but as Rachel is my COUSIN I'd personally rather not discuss that sort of thing.]

"Okay, Loren, we'll see you in a few minutes." Elfangor hung up and glared at me. "Why didn't you answer the phone on the first ring?"

"I didn't think it would be important."

"Well, if Loren hadn't been exaggerating to impress upon you the importance of answering, it would have been!"

"So I was right?"

"I suppose...but that's not the point. If it had been important, Loren could have been killed."

"If that phone call was tapped, we all will be killed. Wait a moment—Loren wasn't in danger?"

"Not as seriously as she said—"

"Then could someone please tell me why you're still acting hysterical?"

Elfangor froze. Then he laughed. "Delayed reaction, I believe. The fight gave me an adrenalin rush. I need to demorph soon," he added suddenly. Like me, he was prone to remembering things at the last minute.

In about 30 seconds, he had gone from teenaged 'Al' to age-unknown Elfangor to middle-aged 'Alan Fangor'. Having been practiced in repeated speed-morphing, he wasn't tired out by his efforts.

Tobias took a bit longer, but he seemed fine. Aximili, meanwhile, was having trouble. It took him almost two minutes to demorph, and once he had, he seemed exhausted. His attempts to go into human morph were half-hearted at best.

"Did you get any sleep last night?" I asked. He responded by falling unconscious then and there.

Jake took charge. "Tom, Esp, you two go get Loren, and bring her to the barn. Elfangor, tell us anything and everything that might explain what's wrong with Ax."

How they got Ax to the barn neither Tom or I ever knew. We—or rather, he—had taken off at a run as soon as Jake told us what to do. He slowed down a bit when we reached the city, but just enough to remain inconspicuous.

Loren was waiting for us. "Where's Alan?" she asked, the very second that she realized he wasn't with us.

"Hello, Loren, I'm fine, thanks for asking, how are you?" Tom had a habit of being deliberately unhelpful and annoying around Loren. And Elfangor. And his friends. And pretty much everyone else except his parents.

"I'm fine. So where is Alan?"

"With his brother and the Animorphs. Aximili's unconscious for some reason, and Jake wanted Elfangor's help figuring out what's wrong with him," I explained.

[Hey, you didn't add in pointless, irrelevant information this time,] Tom commented. He sounded impressed.

"Shut up," I muttered.

"Was that addressed to me or Tom?" asked Loren.

"What makes you so sure it wasn't me telling Esp to shut up?"

"Lucky guess, I guess. So, where are we going?"

"Follow us." After ten minutes of walking, we reached the barn.

"How's Ax doing?" Tom asked, kneeling down next to Elfangor.

[His breathing is raspy and his pulses are weak.] Elfangor hadn't even glanced at us. [Hi, Loren.]

"Any idea what's causing this?" she asked.

Elfangor sighed. [Not yet. I don't think this has ever happened to him before, and I'd probably know if we had a history of this in the family.]

I suddenly jumped. 'I' being the physical, Yeerk me jerked sharply, accidentally twitching Tom's brain in the process.

[What's wrong, Esp?] Tom asked me.

[Why didn't I think of it before?] I gasped. I began rummaging around in Tom's backpack. Where was it?

Success! I found the laptop, popped it open, and turned it on. I had fiddled around with it a bit, so it only took five seconds. The opening message popped up.

HELLO. WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO DO TODAY?

I typed HACK ANDALITE MEDICAL FILES.

In two more seconds, an icon flashed onto the screen. It was shaped like a bright blue A, with a smaller black H inside the triangle. The A signified Andalites, and the H signified hacking. I had designed the icon myself. It was a shortcut to one of the Andalite fleet's minor files.

I had another icon (a bright green Y with another small black H) as a shortcut to the Yeerk Empire's files. I ignored it for the moment, but kept it visible incase I needed it.

After about ten minutes of frantic typing, trying to read un-translated text, and trying to figure out just what I was looking for, I found it.

"No way," I whispered. Aximili didn't have a chance.

Author's Note: Okay, I'm as confused as you are now. I'm thinking I've mixed up books 16, 23, and 29. Until I figure out what's wrong with Ax, let's just say it's an Andalite disease so rare that the cure is unknown.

Mob: (still mad) WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

Me: I'm not sure.

Mob: (incoherent bellow of rage.)


	11. Loren

Author's Note: I know about the _yamphut_ thing in book 29, but I was thinking maybe Ax has a different disease. His fever is higher than it was in book 29, he's unconscious almost all time, and he's delirious whenever he's awake. I don't think he'll die, but I also wasn't planning on him getting sick. His temperature is measured in Fahrenheit, because I don't know the equivalent for Andalite temperature.

Disclaimer: And now, the moment of truth. The instant where cherished hopes and illusions are shattered. The place in the story where I burst into tears and confess that (sob) I DON'T OWN THE ANIMORPHS!

Okay, I'm done procrastinating. Read on, and review when finished. I NEED IDEAS!

Chapter Eleven: Loren's POV 

[What's the matter NOW, Esp?] Elfangor snarled. He was kneeling next to his brother. Aximili, or 'Ax', as the Animorphs called him, was still unconscious.

"How high is Aximili's fever?" Typically, Esp gave an answer that didn't answer anything.

Cassie stuck a thermometer in Aximili's ear. "Ninety-eight point six." Elfangor jumped. "What? That's good, isn't it?"

"Not when your temperature is supposed to be ninety-one point three. He's seven point three degrees above normal. How can you DO that kind of math so quickly? Maybe I'm just smarter than you. Or maybe you're just leeching off of my unknown brilliance! If it's unknown, how do you know it exists? That's why it IS so brilliant."

[Do you two make it a point to jabber complete and utter nonsense in times of crisis?] Elfangor was beginning to sound panicked. Tom/Esp jumped.

"We said all that out loud? Sorry about that. Elfangor, um, do you know anything about_ yamphut_?"

"What's that?" I asked, before Elfangor even answered.

[It's a highly contagious condition caused by disease organisms collected in the _Tria_ gland. I had it when I was younger. It's a one-time malady, like chicken pox for humans, but more often than not, it proves fatal. First, the Andalite develops a fever, then their temperature begins to drop erratically. Once their temperature is back to normal, the _Tria_ gland has to be removed. If it isn't, it will burst. Since its purpose is to keep germs away from the body, this sets those germs loose,] Elfangor explained. He paled under his fur. [You don't mean...]

"Well, if I'm right, that's what's happened to Aximili." Tom/Esp heaved a sigh. "For once, I hope I'm wrong."

"Where is this gland thingy?" Jake wondered. Elfangor thought for a moment, then moaned.

[The _Tria_ gland is directly attached to the brain.]

"Ah, so no problems, then," said Marco sarcastically. "All we need is a trustworthy, qualified brain surgeon who's willing to operate on an alien, for free, at a moments notice."

Right then, Aximili stirred, causing the whole barn to fall silent. He opened his eyes, and looked blearily at Elfangor. [Father?] he whispered. Elfangor visibly cringed.

[No, Aximili,] he said gently. [It's me—Elfangor.]

[Don't lie, Father,] Ax gasped out. I had no idea it was possible to sound out of breath in thought-speak. [Elfangor's dead. I told you.]

"He's delirious, Elfangor," Tom/Esp said softly. "It's probably best just to humor him."

Aximili suddenly cried out in pain. Elfangor's concern for his brother immediately overwhelmed his resent at being mistaken for his father. [What happened? What's wrong?]

[It hurts,] Aximili moaned.

[What hurts?]

[Everything...] Aximili began to whimper. [Where are you?] He began to gasp for air. [I'm scared... don't leave me...]

[Don't be scared, Aximili. I'm here, right beside you. I won't leave you. Try to sleep. I'll be here when you wake up, I promise.] Elfangor seemed shocked that he'd suggested Aximili going to sleep after waiting so anxiously for him to wake up, but didn't attempt to change his mind.

There was no response. Aximili had passed out again.

"We should probably check his temperature again," Cassie said. She stuck the thermometer in Aximili's ear again.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" asked Tom/Esp (most likely Esp). "Putting the thermometer in his ear, I mean. If he wakes up and gets delirious again, he might think that he's being infested or something."

"We have to take his temperature," said Cassie practically. The thermometer beeped, Cassie removed it, and she yelped in alarm. "His fever's gone UP!"

[WHAT?] I am not exaggerating in saying that Elfangor sounded like he'd been breathing helium.

"He's over a hundred degrees!"

[But...] Elfangor's voice was even higher now. [But with _yamphut,_ the fever never RISES, it's supposed to drop!]

"Well, Aximili isn't SUPPOSED to be sick, Loren's not SUPPOSED to know about your existence, you weren't SUPPOSED to give the Animorphs the morphing ability, and I'm fairly sure I'm not SUPPOSED to be in the presence of an Andalite for more than two seconds without attempting murder." I'll give you three guesses who said that, and the first two don't count.

[If this keeps up, never mind the gland we've got to remove, he could die from overheating!] cried Tobias.

AXIMILI WILL NOT DIE.

[What are you doing here, Ellimist?] Elfangor snarled. [Wait, don't tell me. Let me guess. You're 'not interfering' again. Haven't you already ruined my life enough? GO! AWAY!]

I NEVER INTERFERE. I AM HERE TO HELP. AXIMILI DOES NOT HAVE _YAMPHUT._ HE IS A VICTIM OF CRAYAK.

[Who or what is Crayak?] Elfangor demanded.

MY OPPONENT. HE WISHES AXIMILI TO DIE BECAUSE HE KNOWS IT WILL UPSET AND WEAKEN ALL OF YOU. HE BELIEVES THAT I AM UNABLE TO BE OF ASSISTANCE.

"So, besides Crayak being your enemy and all, what's your motive for helping us? What do you want in return?"

ARE YOU ALWAYS THIS SUSPICIOUS OF PEOPLE, ESPLIN?

"No, only with loud voices that come out of nowhere. And don't call me Esplin; call me Esp."

WHAT DOES IT MATTER?

"Well, Esplin can also be used to address my twin, so it's a bit confusing."

YOUR TWIN IS NOT HERE.

"Well, I'm also not used to being addressed as Esplin. And I prefer Esp." I could have sworn that I heard the Ellimist give a sigh of exasperation.

WELL, ESP, I HAVE TWO REASONS. ONE, AS YOU GUESSED, IS TO THWART CRAYAK. I ALSO FEEL THAT I OWE ELFANGOR SOMETHING FOR, AS HE PUT IT, 'RUINING HIS LIFE'.

"Why is it that no one here seems disturbed by voices coming out of nowhere?" I wondered. I had encountered Ellimist shortly after Elfangor disappeared, but I hadn't known the Animorphs had.

"I'm guessing it's because we're all to busy being worried about Ax to care," Jake muttered. I was surprised, actually—I hadn't realized I'd spoken out loud. "How exactly can YOU help him?" he asked Ellimist. "Isn't that interference on your part?"

IT WOULD BE—HAD CRAYAK NOT INTERFERED FIRST BY MAKING AXIMILI ILL. WE HAVE MADE A DEAL. I CAN HELP YOU SAVE AXIMILI.

"But?" asked Esp suspiciously.

BUT WHAT? Ellimist asked him.

"What's the catch?"

I'M NOT SURE I UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU MEAN.

"You want something in return, I know it. What is it?"

NOTHING. I ALREADY TOLD YOU THAT.

"So, what was Crayak's motive for agreeing to this deal?" Esp demanded.

HE IS ALLOWED TO WARN CERTAIN YEERKS ON THE TAXXON HOME WORLD THAT A SMALL GROUP OF TAXXON REBELS ARE PLANNING TO ATTACK.

[Has Arbron been informed of this?] Elfangor asked suddenly.

NO. HOWEVER, I BELIEVE THAT HE IS COMING HERE NOW, SO I WILL BE ABLE TO TELL HIM IN A MINUTE.

Arbron chose that instant to show up. [What's the matter with Aximili?] he asked, apparently able to recognize the scent of illness. Or, more likely, he just realized Aximili was lying down.

[We're not sure. Ellimist has been rather vague about exactly what Crayak did to him.]

Taxxon faces can't really show emotions, so it was only by Arbron's voice as he next spoke that I could tell he was somewhat fearful for Elfangor's sanity.

[What does Ellimist have to do with anything right now and who or what is Crayak?]

I WILL EXPLAIN THINGS MORE CLEARLY. Arbron jerked in surprise at the sound of Ellimist's voice, then pacified.

I recognized what was happening. Ellimist was sending everything we'd said straight into Arbron's memory, as if Arbron had been present the whole time. He had explain things to me in the same fashion after Elfangor's 'disappearance'. My memories of Elfangor hadn't been erased—I was instructed to pretend they'd never happened. I had needed to move my home quite frequently after that, to prevent the Yeerks from finding me. The hardest part was giving up Tobias. I had to leave him with my sister, for his safety as much as mine.

I had been watching my son from a distance for a long time. That was how I'd met Tom and Esp. I'd seen the Animorphs near the Sharing's community center when we literally bumped into each other. I had passed myself off as a potential member for a while, until he introduced me to his friend, 'Alan Fangor'.

Elfangor and I had recognized each other instantly. Still, I was in shock for a week. My husband was alive, well and with me, I had met a trustworthy Yeerk, (coincidentally enough, the twin of Elfangor's personal enemy), Arbron was back, and, best of all, Ellimist didn't show up and ruin everything. At least, not before now.

[That's not fair,] Arbron protested. [Crayak gets to take fifteen lives, and you only get to save one? Forgive me, but I don't see any justice in that. It's just not fair.]

PERHAPS NOT, BUT THOSE WERE THE TERMS OF OUR AGREEMENT. THERE IS A STRONG CHANCE THAT THE TAXXON REBELS WILL REALIZE THAT THE YEERKS WERE WARNED. CRAYAK'S INTENT IS TO KEEP THAT YEERK BASE UNDAMAGED.

[That still doesn't make it fair.] Arbron was extremely stubborn about things like this. Still, I had a feeling that Elfangor would have made the same argument, if there hadn't been personal emotions getting in the way. Elfangor, being Aximili's big brother, naturally felt willing to do make any sacrifice necessary to help Aximili. Arbron, being unrelated to Aximili and trapped in Taxxon morph, was more inclined to sympathize with the Taxxon rebels.

ARBRON, I REALIZE YOU DO NOT BELIEVE THIS TO BE FAIR, BUT IT MUST BE DONE IN ORDER TO SAVE AXIMILI'S LIFE.

[Arbron, please, just go along with this,] begged Elfangor. He cast a desperate look at Aximili. His little brother was beginning to tremble violently.

"I think he's cold," said Tom/Esp softly. "I'm not sure about Andalites, but when a human has a fever, they usually feel really cold." He pulled a horse blanket from a pile near the door and shook the loose hay and dust off it. He then spread it very gently over Aximili's shuddering form. A few seconds later, the shivering subsided. Aximili's breathing, however, was raspier than ever.

[Poor Ax,] Tobias whispered from the rafters. He was still keeping lookout for Cassie's parents. [Hang in there, buddy. You're going to be okay. You're going to be okay!] He began to chant this, though whether to convince Aximili or himself was uncertain. After about five straight minutes of this, he fell silent, then whispered: [Please, Ax-man. Please—you've got to be okay.]

I CANNOT CURE HIM WITHOUT THE CONSENT OF ALL PRESENT.

"Does that mean you need Ax to wake up to give his permission to be cured?" asked Rachel. I jumped—she had been almost totally silent since I'd gotten there.

IT MEANS THAT ARBRON MUST GIVE CONSENT. THE REST OF YOU, AXIMILI INCLUDED, HAVE GIVEN IT SUBCONSCIOUSLY.

[So, I'm guessing that also means Crayak can't warn those Yeerks about the attack?] said Arbron hopefully.

IN THIS CASE, NO. I WAS UNDER THE IMPRESSION YOU WOULD ALL AGREE, AND THUS NEGLECTED TO MAKE THAT A FACTOR IN OUR DEAL.

[It's an unspoken factor,] Arbron insisted. [You cure Aximili, and he gets to warn the Yeerks. You DON'T cure Aximili, and he CAN'T warn the Yeerks. It's very simple, really.]

[Arbron, please,] Elfangor begged. [The Taxxons will probably find out that the Yeerks were warned. They won't attack, they won't die—Crayak's technically doing them a favor. Aximili's dying.]

"Either way, Crayak has a victory," Tom/Esp pointed out. "If Arbron says okay, the Yeerk base is safe, for a while, at least. If Arbron says no, Aximili dies."

[How do we know he's going to die?] Arbron demanded. [He might recover on his own.]

Esp laughed out loud at this. "Right, Arbron. Just like Esi MIGHT come to his senses, voluntarily end the war, give up his rank as a Visser, leave his host body, and apologize to Elfangor for trying to kill him."

Elfangor cried out suddenly. "What's wrong?" I asked. He looked paler than I would have thought possible as an Andalite. Even his fur seemed to be losing its color.

[Aximili's getting worse,] he whispered. [One of his hearts stopped beating.]

Author's Note: Okay, I'm going to go find a cliff to walk off of before Waffles does it for me. But before I do...

I am really sorry this is a cliff-hanger, (DIE, EVIL WRITER'S BLOCK!) but I believe it is also my longest chapter to date.

I am not sure how many hearts Andalites have. Some books say they have two, other books say they have three. I just know that they have more than one.

Since I've basically BUTCHERED the order of the books by now, let's just assume books 26 and 27 have already happened. They're the ones that explain Crayak the best.

Reviews that give me ideas would be IMMENSELY appreciated.

Please tell me whose POV you think the next chapter should be from. It can't be Ellimist, lest I spoil the Ellimist Chronicles AND my self-esteem, and I've just finished doing the major characters. You have until August 1st.

Thanks a billion and good-bye.


	12. Tobias

Author's Note: Just kidding. I wouldn't leave you until August. I'm to impatient. I only got six reviews, and only two people voted! I got an equal reaction for my uncertainty about how many hearts Andalites have. Let's just go with two, shall we?

Anonymous-cat: In the Andalite Chronicles, I got the impression that Elfangor thought Aximili had died, and wanted to use the Time Matrix to save him. Thanks for the idea, though. Any tips for a new story title? I think the first one's losing relevance.

Wraithlord42: What do you have against Clippit? He/she/it is what gave me the idea for Esp's computer's opening line!

Dragoon123: When you said 'GET HIM!' in your review of chapter eight, it caused me some confusion. Were you referring to one of the characters or to me? For future reference, I'm a girl.

Rachel9466 (or Salad Shooter): You were right, I made an error, it doesn't say the Esplins came from the Sulp Niar pool anywhere. I think I got confused because Sulp Niar was mentioned in the Hork-Bajir Chronicles. Sorry for the unfounded criticism. I apologize.

Disclaimer: The only characters I own are the members of the Mob you may have seen in previous Author's Notes. Unfortunately for me, this Mob does not contain the Animorphs or any other characters created by Ms. Applegate.

Chapter Twelve: Tobias' POV 

[Please don't die, Ax-man,] I begged him in private thought-speak. I was getting desperate. He HAD to live. But he was dying.

ARBRON, YOUR CONSENT IS VITAL. AXIMILI'S LIFE DEPENDS ON IT. Maybe it was just my imagination, but even the Ellimist seemed stressed out.

[Arbron, please,] Elfangor whispered. Wow, he was even more desperate than I was. Then again, why not? He had just basically come back from the dead, been reunited with his brother, met his son, and then found out his brother was ill. And not with a minor disease, either. A potentially fatal one.

[But what about those Taxxons? Their lives are important, too.]

"Maybe Crayak realized that," Tom/Esp whispered slowly.

[Realized what?] I demanded.

"Maybe he realized Arbron would protest about the Taxxons being put in danger, meaning that Aximili would die, AND the Yeerks on the Taxxon home world would be warned. Like the proverbial killing of two birds with one stone, except in this case it's killing sixteen beings by only attempting to kill one. Esp, you disturb me sometimes. Only sometimes? Okay, all the time, just not as much as now.."

"Hey, Elfangor, do you still remember where you hid the Time Matrix?" I turned to Loren—my mother—in surprise. What was the Time Matrix?

[Yes. What are you suggesting?]

"I'm suggesting that we use it. Arbron could 'consent' to Ellimist curing Aximili, and we could dig it up and go to the Taxxon home world to warn those rebels."

Arbron exclaimed something in Taxxon that made Tom/Esp give him a strange look. "Why exactly do you want to throw up and what does that have to do with anything?"

[I don't and nothing. I told Loren that she was a genius.]

Ax suddenly moaned and opened his eyes again. They were just as weak and bleary as the first time, but his breathing seemed stronger.

I think I heard Elfangor sigh with relief. [His heart started back up again.]

BE WARNED, said Ellimist. HE WILL BE WEAK FOR THE NEXT FEW DAYS.

[But after that, he'll be okay, right?] Elfangor demanded.

YES. OR AT LEAST, HE'LL BE BACK TO NORMAL.

"Where'd Arbron go?" Jake asked suddenly.

HE WENT TO RETRIEVE THE TIME MATRIX.

[Already?] I asked. He was fast—I hadn't seen him leave.

Arbron suddenly re-emerged from his tunnel pushing an enormous off-white sphere. [I got it. When do we leave?]

"What's the rush? When's this attack thing going to happen, anyway?" asked Marco.

TWO WEEKS FROM TODAY, AT THE EQUIVALENT OF THREE O'CLOCK IN THE AFTERNOON. HOWEVER, WITH THE TIME MATRIX, YOU CAN GO THERE NOW.

"Won't that create paradox?" Tom/Esp wondered.

NO. NOT IF YOU ARE CAREFUL.

"What about Ax?" asked Cassie.

[We could ask one of the Chee to watch him,] I suggested.

"I've got Erek on speed dial," said Tom/Esp. "I'll call him now."

"How do you even know what a Chee is?" Jake asked.

"You've been talking in your sleep," Tom reminded him. "The only thing I'm still uncertain of is whether Rachel was allergic to crocodile DNA or alligator DNA."

Rachel shot Jake a murderous look. Tom pulled out his cell phone and punched in one number.

"Hi, Erek?" he asked after a moment. "Yeah, it's Tom. I was wondering... could you do me this major favor? See, one of our friends is sick—he's recovering, but he's still groggy—and I've got to run an errand, so I was hoping you could keep him company until I got back." There was a brief pause. "Thanks, Erek. I owe you, big time." He began giving Erek directions to Cassie's barn. He made it sound like it was the house he was leading Erek to, but he said to go in by the back door, which you could see from anywhere in the main barn.

When he finished, we all stared at him. Jake spoke first. "Where did you learn how to lie so convincingly?"

Tom smirked. "I wasn't lying. I consider Aximili a friend. He's recovering from illness, but he's still groggy. We DO have an errand of sorts, and Erek WILL be keeping him company. Esp stayed out of things until I gave Erek directions, so I wasn't even lying about who he was talking to. And unless I'm mistaken, I will owe him for this. I simply didn't mention that the friend was an Andalite, the illness was inflicted by an evil, semi-omnipotent being, and that our errand involved twisting time itself to go to another planet and mess up said evil being's plot." He considered for a moment, then added, "Okay, it's technically lying by omission, but hey, it gets the basic point across, I don't suffer a major conscience issue, and Esi doesn't get suspicious and come kill us."

We all just continued to stare. All except Elfangor and Ax, who seemed to be having a private little dialog. Ax was clinging to Elfangor's hand—he looked scared. Elfangor was apparently trying to comfort him. Whatever they were saying must have been in private thought-speak, because I couldn't hear it.

Erek showed up ten minutes later. Tom/Esp was waiting at the door and led Erek to the barn. "You can drop the hologram if you want," he added casually as he entered. I admired his calm. If I didn't know better, I would say he went through similar situations on a regular basis. But then, he had to do a lot of acting. Around normal humans, he had to act like a normal human. Around the Yeerks, he would still have to act like a Controller or an involuntary host body. I had to act like a bird most of the time, but that wasn't the same.

The hologram of Erek's jaw dropped. "Um... what's going on?"

"Chill, Erek." Tom/Esp began giving the android a more detailed account of what they had said over the phone.

"So, you guys want me to keep an eye on Ax until you get back from saving a bunch of Taxxons?" Erek asked finally. He still looked shocked. Jake had taken pity on him and explain about Elfangor surviving, Tom/Esp being on our side, Arbron and Loren showing up, and Ax-man getting sick.

"Basically, yes. Once Elfangor acknowledges that the rest of us still exist, anyway." Marco laughed at his joke, but he was the only one who did. Elfangor was still reassuring Ax. I don't know why, but I felt a sudden twinge of jealousy.

For a split second, I felt really mad at Ax, and at Elfangor. Then I felt confused. Where had that anger come from? The image was almost sweet—an older brother trying to comfort his little brother. So why would I be mad?

Of course. I'd never had that sort of comfort. During the time I was with my uncle (on my mother's side) I would come home from school everyday beaten to a pulp. He never cared. My aunt (again, on my mother's side) didn't let me go to school, but if she had, she probably wouldn't have cared if I'd been beaten up either. I hadn't known my parents at all. Now, when I'd finally met them, my father was distracted with my best friend, who turned out to be my uncle. My mother had barely acknowledged that I existed. Again, because of Ax.

No. Because of Crayak and Ellimist. Crayak made Ax get sick. Ellimist made Elfangor leave Earth.

I laughed a little at the second phrase. Three E's, all capitalized. Again, I don't now why, but it struck me as funny back then.

I suddenly felt ashamed of myself. Ax was still a little sick. Elfangor had a right to worry about him, they were brothers! What right did I have to be jealous?

I was getting confused again. I had been so desperate for Ax to live, and now that he was recovering I was mad at him. It made no sense.

Elfangor had pulled himself away from Ax. I pulled myself out of my thoughts, which were getting rather random.

[I think we all need to touch the Time Matrix,] he said. He glanced up at me with one stalk eye. [Tobias, I believe you should perch on someone's shoulder.] I fluttered down, and landed on Rachel's shoulder. [This is going to sound strange—even by this group's standards,] Elfangor continued, once we were all touching it. [But you should all try to not think of anything. We don't want to end up on the wrong planet.]

"Or creating a new universe or dimension by mistake?" asked Tom/Esp amusedly. Elfangor glared at him with three eyes. The other was focused on Ax and Erek. Again, I felt jealous, then confused, then ashamed.

[Or that,] said Elfangor coldly. [So... everybody just relax...] He turned his other stalk eye so that both were facing Ax and Erek. [We'll be back soon.]

Suddenly, the barn was gone. We were in a desert.

Author's Note: Okay, since this is early I don't think—

Mob: NO! ANOTHER CLIFFIE!

Me: That you have a right to get mad because it's a cliffie. Since only two people voted, I drew the name out of a hat. The next chapter will be Esp's POV again because we'll need someone who can speak Taxxon, Hork-Bajir, and Yeerk, and for another, rather amusing reason you'll see when it's posted.

Forgive me if it's a bit random, but everything past Arbron retrieving the Time Matrix was written at around midnight.

(Oh, and while I have your attention, Ax will be called Aximili by Loren, Elfangor, and Tom/Esp for the remainder of the story. Tom/Esp will be called Tom/Esp unless it's from one of their POVs or it's obvious which one is speaking.)


	13. Esp

Author's Note: Hi! Italics don't seem to be working, so for all characters except the Ellimist and the Living Hive, capitals mean italics.

Korean Pearl: Tobias and Loren's interactions won't be able to take place for a while, but they WILL take place. Tom never explained to Jake before because he healthily respected Jake's tiger morph. And can you honestly expect Elfangor to be mature after spending so much time either alone or being driven up the wall?

Disclaimer: I don't own the Animorphs. But that's NOT from lack of trying... okay, it is.

Chapter Thirteen: Esp's POV 

[I can understand why you never liked this place,] Tom whispered to me, mind to mind. [I'm boiling.]

[I didn't mind the heat, I mostly hated the scenery. What's the point of having eyes if there's nothing to look at? I didn't really like the Taxxons much at first, either.] I turned Tom's eyes towards Arbron. "Any idea where we are?"

[No,] he answered. [But the Living Hive might be able to help us.] Immediately, the ground beneath us opened up. We were sucked down, forward, left, right, up, right, down, left...

After a thirty seconds of twisting, turning, and trying not to throw up, we were deposited on a soft heap of something I thought was best left unidentified.

[ARBRON?] a voice bellowed. [HOW IS THE SITUATION ON EARTH? HAVE YOU DEFEATED THE YEERKS ALREADY? WHY DO YOU HAVE A YEERK WITH YOU?]

[The Living Hive,] Elfangor explained. He smiled reminiscently. [It sounds exactly like I remember it. Loud.]

I, however, glanced around nervously. I should have known that my presence would cause trouble. I had forgotten that Taxxons could smell Yeerks.

Arbron began to explain to the Living Hive in thought-speak. I tuned out. Then the Living Hive began to speak again, and I listened. Not only were it's words shocking, but it was also rather hard to ignore.

[WE ARE AWARE THAT THE YEERKS HAVE DISCOVERED OUR PLAN. WE INTEND TO ATTACK REGARDLESS.]

"You're kidding, right?" Tom demanded. "You'll be slaughtered!"

[SILENCE, YEERK!] Before, the Living Hive just sounded naturally loud. Now, it sounded angry. Tom opened his mouth to inform it that he wasn't a Yeerk, but I snapped it shut.

[Hey!] he snapped indignantly at me.

[We shouldn't argue with it until we prove that it can trust us,] I cautioned. [Do you really want the Living Hive, and every single Taxxons here, to be mad at us?

Tom considered it for a moment. We had a Dracon beam, but I was a pacifist and we were also out numbered. Jake might try to help, but Tom wouldn't allow his brother to be put in such a dangerous situation. [No.]

Arbron began to speak in the Taxxon language. I was never particularly good at it, but I think that what he said was: "He's not a Yeerk. He's a human—he and his Yeerk share the speech centers."

[WHAT PROOF DO YOU HAVE OF THAT?] the Hive enquired. Arbron proceeded to explain in greater detail. As the Hive still doubted him, we went by our old standby. I crawled out so Tom could explain.

I immediately fell to the ground. I heard Elfangor yelling something, felt myself being scooped up and then thrust away, and suddenly... I flew through the air and hit something, hard.

I sensed an opening above me. I squirmed up into it. An ear canal—perfect. My instincts took over and I pushed myself in deeper. I could 'hear' people yelling, and a bit of thought-speak, but I paid it no heed. I lodged my slimy body into it, spread some of the natural anesthetic around, and froze. It wasn't Tom's ear canal, I could tell. But I wasn't about to go to the brain to find out who it was. I was scared.

Fingers clawed at me, but I slipped in deeper. A hysterical thought-speak voice hit me like a Dracon blast. [GET OUT OF MY EAR!]

Aximili. I had infested him. Wait a moment—how had HE gotten here? We'd left him on Earth!

I squirmed backwards as fast as I could—which wasn't actually all that fast. It would have been quicker to go forward, across the brain, and out the other ear, but I had the feeling that I was in enough trouble already. Still, the way Yeerk bodies (not to mention instincts) worked, going backwards in an ear canal was about as easy as it would be for a Taxxon refuse fresh meat. I was going away from the brain, and I knew there was not a Yeerk pool outside this ear. No Kandrona, no incentive.

After five minutes, I fell onto Aximili's shoulder. A hand grabbed me and I was shoved against another ear. Tom's ear. I shot in and reached his brain in record time. We both shouted at the same time.

[WHAT JUST HAPPENED?] Tom's voice was angry, mine was panicked. He burst out laughing, calmed down and explained things to me first.

[Aximili appeared out of no where and I dropped you by accident. I tried to get you, but Arbron fell over somehow and landed on me. One of the other Taxxons tried to eat you, and midget punched him. You went flying, hit Aximili and went for his ear. Aximili and Elfangor both freaked out. What were you thinking?]

[I wasn't THINKING, I was to busy PANICKING! I was disoriented, I couldn't tell what was happening, I got scared, and I went for the first shelter available. I also discovered that Yeerk bodies are not designed to back up.]

[WELL?] Elfangor snapped. [What's Esplin's excuse?] I felt a chill. Elfangor always called me Esp—this was the second time, EVER, that a non-Yeerk had called me Esplin. I didn't like it.

"He was scared and didn't know what was going on. He'd just be thrown around and nearly EATEN, in case you weren't paying attention. It was the first chance of safety he had." I had the uncomfortable feeling that I should apologize to Aximili, but Tom wouldn't let me use the mouth. I didn't push the issue.

[How did you even get here?] Elfangor turned to his little brother.

[I don't know. You had all been gone for about five Earth minutes, and then I was suddenly here.]

Tom began to rub his hand. I noticed a large rash forming on it—he must have hit Aximili's shoulder when he grabbed me. There was a similar rash on his ear.

[That's going to be hard to explain to your parents,] I commented.

[Shut up, I'm getting a headache. At least Aximili isn't yelling anymore.]

[Well, don't rub it. It'll just get more inflamed.]

[You sound like my mom. It itches.]

I didn't know whether to laugh or sigh. [Tom, you may be a teenager, but right now you sound like a little kid.]

[Well, it still itches.]

"What's the matter with your hand?" Jake asked suddenly.

"Allergy," Tom mumbled.

After about ten more minutes of discussing things with Arbron, the Hive suggested that we join the attack. As a pacifist, I was against it. I was overruled. Aximili went so far as to call me a coward. Tom's hand was on my Dracon beam before I got a hold on myself. Then I came up with the idea of backing up my opinion with logic.

"If you guys are killed, Earth is practically defenseless. And since you'll probably be using your usual battle morphs, the Empire will know it's the 'Andalite Bandits'."

[So what would YOU suggest?] demanded Aximili, in an acidic tone. He was still mad at me, and I didn't blame him. Although compared to Tom's memory of the first time HE was infested, Aximili had been remarkably tolerant.

"I suggest we go there first to check how tight security is, maybe disable some of the Dracon beams—like, spy and sabotage."

[THAT MAY ACTUALLY BE A GOOD IDEA,] said the Living Hive. By now, I was starting to get used to it. [UNEXPECTED DAMAGE WILL AID US EVENTUALLY, EVEN IF IT DOESN'T BECOME IMMEDIATELY APPARENT TO THE YEERKS. THEY CANNOT BE ON CONSTANT GUARD WHEN THEY ARE REPAIRING THEIR WEAPONS AND THEIR SHIPS.]

This resulted in our being sent to the spaceport where the attack was to take place. Elfangor, Aximili, Tobias and Rachel were in Hork-Bajir morph. The rest of us (with the exception of Arbron) would pass as human-Controllers. There were quite a few on the Taxxon home world already, so we would be inconspicuous. Our orders, if you could call them that, were to remain so.

"Look familiar, by any chance?" I asked Elfangor as we approached the base. If we were questioned about arriving on foot, we were to say that our ship had exploded just out of sight, but we had remembered from the navigational system which way the base was.

"Unfortunately," he muttered, wary of using thought-speak so close to a Yeerk base. "This is where my first encounter was with..." he paused, and gave me an edgy look.

"My twin? Esi? The Yeerk who tried to kill you? Call him whatever you like, just don't get profane. I don't mind, I've probably heard worse."

"I think that covers it, actually."

[So, what is the point of my being here? Surly the rebels are not that much of a threat!]

"Speaking of Esi..." I gasped. "What's he doing here?"

Author's Note: Why is Esi there? Hey, for once, I actually know! I've been planning this for... hmmm... about a week now. Next chapter will reveal 'Why Visser Three Is Back On The Taxxon Home World (And No, The Animorphs Did Not Accidentally Go Back In Time To When He Was Visser Thirty-Two)'.


	14. Esi

Author's Note: I'm back! I'm updating really quickly now, aren't I?

(Pause)

AREN'T I?

Disclaimer: Alright, I confess! I DO own the Animorphs! I'm KAA, and I didn't come up with this until it was to late for it to be published!

Just kidding.

Chapter Fourteen: Esi's POV 

"Well... well, you see, Visser..." the human-Controller stuttered. He glanced at my tail. "We... that is, Sub-Visser Thirty-Four, thought that since you... er... have... shall we say, experience with the... um, Taxxon rebels, you might... uh..."

[Stop that ridiculous stammering or bring in someone competent!] I roared. The Yeerk before me went white.

"Be able to advise us," he finished quickly. Again, he glanced at my tail, which was beginning to twitch.

[Can't you figure this out on your own? Send a single Hork-Bajir out and slice them up or something, it's not that difficult!] This was foolish. I felt that my time would be better spent convincing my twin to address me by my rank.

[As if that will EVER happen,] Alloran informed me. He'd gotten quieter in the past five years, but he somehow seemed confident whenever I as little as THOUGHT about Esp. [And if it did, you probably wouldn't like it. Admit it, slug, you LIKE IT when your twin calls you Esi.]

[SHUT UP!] I screamed at him. I shouldn't have reacted. Now Alloran would have the satisfaction of knowing he'd ground my nerves. To make myself feel better, I replayed my most recent favorite fantasy, allowing Alloran to see it. In it, I was holding his wife's head under the surface of a Yeerk pool with my tail, while Alloran screamed at his own helplessness to save her.

[No,] Alloran whispered, suddenly back to my preferred state of him, weak and afraid. [No, not again... please, no. Not Jahar...] It was pathetic, but easier for me than when he fought for control. I tuned out my host body's pleading, and tuned in to the human-Controller's explanation.

"...they've managed to steal weapons from us, too, so they aren't as helpless as they have been. And they've also stolen some Bug fighters..."

[Well, if you know the situation SO WELL, why do I need to be here? This isn't the only planet with an annoying resistance, AS I'M SURE YOU ARE AWARE?]

"Visser..." the Controlled protested. "We have been informed that Earth's resistance may come here to aid the Taxxon rebels as well!"

That got my attention like nothing else could. [The Andalite Bandits will be here?]

The Yeerk looked confident at my piqued interest. "We are almost certain."

I smiled. It's rare for my to do that when I'm not torturing someone. It was even rarer for me to say what I said next. [What can I do to help?]

For the next five hours, the Sub-Visser and I exchanged what we knew of the Taxxon rebels. Their attacks occurred randomly, often taking the base completely by surprise, but the format was lamentably simple. They popped up out of the ground, tore up any Controller they could bite, stole whatever they could, and disappeared back into their tunnels. The only real tactical advantage they ever had was the element of surprise. And this time, they wouldn't even have that.

The Sub-Visser was eager. Eager to win... no. Eager to kill.

I felt a tingle in the back of my neck. I recognized it, though I hadn't felt it since the Andalite Bandits had first wounded me. Fear.

Fear of what? The Andalite Bandits were somewhat dangerous, but the Taxxon rebels were a mere nuisance. Neither group was a significant enough threat, together or separately, to cause this kind of fear.

Fear of the Sub-Visser. She had a Hork-Bajir host, with wickedly glittering blades. She was obviously experienced with them. That was normal with the Yeerk Empire. It was her eagerness to use them that unnerved me. She was far to eager. Far to bloodthirsty.

Far to much like me.

I dismissed my worries. It wouldn't matter. After today, I would go back to Earth, and I would probably never see this particular Sub-Visser again. It was time to decide which morph I would use to eliminate the resistance.

The Andalite Bandits, AND the Taxxon rebels? It was to perfect. This would require an all-purpose killer. I chose my personal favorite.

Antarean Bogg.

BRRRRRRRR-EEEEEEEEEEEET! BRRRRRRRR-EEEEEEEEEEEET! BRRRRRRRR-EEEEEEEEEEEET!

The attack! It had begun! I began to morph.

I emerged a few moments later. I was disappointed. The Taxxon rebels were there, certainly—but where were the Andalite Bandits?

[They must be in Taxxon morph,] I decided. Alloran laughed.

[They wouldn't do that in an attack. For spy missions, maybe, but no one wants to be a worm when they don't have to be.]

Even I had to admit he was right. I turned it against him. I have a talent for that. [Which is why Yeerks take host bodies. Since you understand so well, why do you resist me?]

My host began to scream at me. His thoughts were scrambled in his rage, but I understood enough to guess at the rest. Most of it was profane.

A Dracon beam hit me suddenly. I had been distracted. Now I was losing consciousness.

Right before things went black, I saw someone who couldn't possibly have been there. But there he was, almost hidden by the wreck of a Bug fighter, still pointing at me with his Dracon beam.

Esp. My twin. He'd shot me.

Alloran spoke weakly. He was more alert than I, but he, like me, was blacking out. [Can you blame him?]

Author's Note: You all thought he was going to say it was Elfangor, didn't you? CONFESS! YOU THOUGHT HE'D SEEN ELFANGOR!

Nah, that doesn't happen until later. Sorry this chapter is so short. I'm trying to do a minimum of one thousand words per chapter, but I just couldn't type that much this time. In case you can't tell, I can't type evil psychopathic personalities very well. Which is weird, because I have a semi-evil, mildly psychotic personality myself. At least on the computer.

Since she was to late to vote last time, AND ACTUALLY WOULD HAVE, I'm letting Korean Pearl decide whose POV the next chapter should be from. You go, girl! (Signed review, please. I don't want someone impersonating you.)

Mob: WHAT ABOUT THE OTHER READERS WHO WERE TO LATE TO VOTE LAST TIME AND ACTUALLY WOULD HAVE?

Me: Look, I'm tired of setting dates and waiting. I'm tired of choosing. So I'm asking someone with good ideas, whom I'd trust with this sort of thing, and who hasn't voted before, to help me.

Mob: WHAT ABOUT WRAITHLORD42?

Me: He'll have his chance later.


	15. Tom

Author's Note: Hi. I have nothing to say, so I'll just do the disclaimer and get on with it.

Disclaimer: Animorphs and all related characters are property of K. A. Applegate. I am not K. A. Applegate, and I have not yet committed the necessary identity theft to claim that I am. Thus, I do not own any characters in this story.

Chapter Fifteen: Tom's POV 

[Remind me again why I agreed to do this,] Esp requested.

[Because you got into an argument with Aximili after he called you a coward,] I answered, ducking behind the wreckage of a crashed Big fighter.

[THAT WAS YOU!]

[You sound like your twin when you yell like that.] I aimed Esp's Dracon beam at aforementioned twin. Esi had become a pretty big target—this would be easier than we had expected. I recognized his morph as the one he'd nearly killed Elfangor with, though I couldn't seem to remember its name.

[Well, we ARE genetically identical. And that is an Antarean Bogg.] Esp was generally polite about the mind reading thing—he tried to stay out of my thoughts if he could—but sometimes he couldn't help answering an unasked question.

[Listen, can you just be quiet? Please? You're messing up my aim.]

[Would YOU be quiet if I was going to shoot JAKE?]

[That is an unfair comparison. Jake isn't an enemy.] I fired. Esi slumped.

[Good shot!] I heard Elfangor yell (in private thought-speak) from... somewhere.

The attack was well underway. My job (and Loren's) was to stun the Hork-Bajir, human-Controllers, and Esi, if we possibly could. Since we couldn't morph, we couldn't join everyone else, as they were all in Taxxon morph. Loren and I weren't planning on shooting any Taxxons if we could avoid it. We had decided that the Yeerks on the base would probably be caught off-guard with the Animorphs BEING Taxxons, since they suspected that the 'Andalite Bandits' would be helping the Taxxon rebels. Generally, the Empire now associated them with their usual battle morphs.

"Esi is going to be SO mad when he wakes up," I hissed to Loren. By now, I tended to call the Visser by Esp's nickname for him. "The 'Andalite Bandits' supposedly didn't show, AND he got shot? I pity the poor slug who revives him." I had a hard time trying not to laugh.

"As do I," Loren muttered. "But at the moment, I'm more concerned about my aim than I am about a Visser's temper."

"Why? You have great aim." She really did. I wished I could shoot that well.

"And most of the Yeerks here can see where it's coming from."

"Loren, we don't have time for fancy shooting. Let's be straightforward about this."

"Well, what if we're seen? I can disappear, no problem, but, being Visser Three's twin, you'll have a lot of explaining to do—such as how you got here, why you're here at all, and not to mention why you shot your twin."

Esp took over the speech centers. "We'll cross that bridge when and if we come to it," he said reassuringly. "Relax, Loren. Tom and I will be fine."

[Okay, we've done some damage, now let's get out of here!] Arbron yelled. Holes appeared and we were sucked into them. I was forcibly reminded of a roller coaster, except I couldn't see anything. I could hear plenty.

Behind me, I could hear the slurping and crunching of someone morphing. Being in a tunnel made the sound echo and magnified the nausea Esp was feeling. [I hate those noises,] he moaned. He had almost released control entirely, but since I was thinking about the sound, he could still 'hear' it.

[You three were invaluable,] Arbron told us once we'd gotten out of the tunnel. [It's much easier for one to fight in Taxxon form when one doesn't have Hork-Bajir trying to slice one up.]

"No problem," I mumbled. I, too, was starting to feel nauseous.

[We'd best get back to Earth,] said Elfangor. [Aximili, what time was it when you came here?]

[I don't know, exactly, but it was five minutes after you left.]

[Alright, so we'll go to six minutes after we left.]

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Esp wondered. "I mean, that creates a brief period of time in which none of us exist."

[No, I don't know if it's a good idea. I suppose you have a better one?]

"None that can be suggested or understood by any of us without having a rational comprehension of paradox."

"Come again in English?" Marco suggested.

"No, I don't have a better idea."

[Then let's try THIS one.] Elfangor was starting to sound impatient. He walked over to the Time Matrix. [Unless, of course, you'd all rather stay.]

We gathered around the sphere while Elfangor explained to Aximili what to do. We all touched it.

Nothing happened.

[What's the matter with this thing?] Elfangor snapped.

"Maybe it needs it's batteries changed," joked Marco.

[Maybe it's broken,] Arbron added.

"Maybe somehow you're not focused enough," midget suggested.

"Maybe it only works for a certain amount of time," Loren offered.

"Maybe Crayak got mad that we messed up his plan and so he stole the real Time Matrix and replaced it with a fake one for revenge," Esp chimed in. Everyone stared at him. "What? It's just as possible as everything else you guys have come up with."

Suddenly, we were in the barn again. "Or maybe it just took a while cause you weren't being specific," I added. Elfangor glared at me. I tried (and failed miserably) to give him an innocent look. My failure was not my fault—Esp had started laughing.

[What, pray tell, is so FUNNY?] Elfangor demanded.

Esp pointed at a calendar on the wall. I hadn't noticed it before. "You overshot. We... we went back in time to a week before we even met!" he gasped out. Suddenly, he froze. Even I didn't realize why at first, but the Yeerk was suddenly completely serious. "Where did the Time Matrix go?"

It had apparently vanished into thin air. Arbron checked the construction site. It only took a few minutes. The Time Matrix wasn't there, either. To make matters worse, Cassie suddenly remembered that the Animorphs were going to have a meeting—in three minutes. We were stuck in the past. We had no way out.

"Oh, well," said Marco optimistically. "We'll catch up with ourselves. We've just got to stay hidden for a week."

Author's Note: To those who would suggest it, they can't stay at Loren's place because her past self would find them.

Korean Pearl: Horrible enough for you? Sorry, I'm not good at torturing characters I like.

Wraithlord42: Yes, it is your turn. Who's POV will it be next? (By the way, you never answered my question. What sort of weather do you have right now? I know there's a six hour time difference—six A.M. here is noon there—but I mean CLIMATE wise.)


	16. Loren

Author's Note: I finally own three, count 'em, three characters! I am so happy!

Ricky's grammatical errors are deliberate. Axi is pronounced acks-EE.

Disclaimer: I do not own Jake, Marco, Rachel, Cassie, Tobias, Loren, Elfangor, Aximili, Arbron, Tom, or either of the Esplins.

Claimer: I own Ricky! I own Amy! I own Eftlak 457! (Attempts to declare international holiday. Is heartlessly refused.)

Chapter Sixteen: Loren's POV 

"So where are we going to stay for the next week?" I asked. "We have to decide quickly."

"How about... where ever it is you're staying?" suggested Jake.

"No dice. I'm in and out of there constantly, I'd find us." I smiled inwardly at how ridiculous that sounded.

"We don't have the money to stay at a motel, either," Jake added. "And I don't think most of us could stay in the woods that long—at least, not safely."

Tom and Esp were discussing something privately. "Esp knows a place," Tom said suddenly. "The neighborhood's a bit nasty, but we've got a friend there—he'll let us stay at his place, and he doesn't ask questions." He smiled at our skeptical looks. "Seriously, he doesn't."

[Sounds ideal,] Elfangor commented. [How do know him?]

"He got recruited for The Sharing about a year ago—the Yeerk's one of my friends, his name is Eftlak 457. Ricky's a nice guy. He used to be a drug-obsessed alcoholic, but he quit after a few months. We can trust them both."

"Are you absolutely sure about that?" Jake asked. "I mean... like Elfangor said, it sounds ideal... almost a bit TO ideal."

"Chill, midget. If I say we can trust him, I'm sure. If I wasn't sure, I would say that we could PROBABLY trust him."

We followed Tom/Esp out the door, pausing so that Elfangor, Aximili and Tobias could go into their human morphs. We were led to the slums. Tom/Esp briefed us as we went. Ricky was fifteen and a decent guy, but he had a reputation. He often had at least one of his friends at his place, but they wouldn't care about us as long as we didn't steal their stuff. As most of said 'stuff' was either drugs or beer, there wasn't much danger of that.

"Ah, here we are," Tom announced. "The only house on the block to still have numbers." He pointed at the shack before of us. Barely visible were the numbers 4, 5, and 7. "A bit of a joke on Eftlak's part," Tom/Esp continued. "It doesn't matter, none of the other houses have numbers, no one cares."

"How come we haven't been mugged yet?" I asked.

"You, Alan and I are the only ones dressed well enough to look like we've got anything worth mugging. Alan's got muscles enough not to be bothered, I've been here before, so they know I'm dangerous, and you aren't exactly being subtle about that Dracon beam." Tom/Esp was right, as usual. I noticed suddenly that I'd had the Dracon beam part way out of my pocket, and my hand was going for it now and then.

Tom/Esp casually crossed the lawn and knocked politely on the door. It open almost immediately.

"I've told you three billion times, dude, the door is open," grumbled a guy I assumed was Ricky.

"I prefer to knock. So sue me."

"'F I had that kind o' money I'd blow this dump. Still, better than the streets... Come in, all o' you."

"What did we do, Rick Van Winkle, wake you up while you were sleeping something off?" Ricky gave Tom a death look, and gestured to us to come in.

He had not been exaggerating when he called it a dump. Everything looked ready to fall apart. The couch was collapsing, the coffee table, scarred and covered with cigarette burns, had chunks gouged out of it, and there were beer bottles everywhere. Tom/Esp frowned.

"I thought you quit," he said, gesturing towards the bottles.

"I did. Pete came by yesterday, these're his. I cleared up all the broken glass, though. Couldn't believe how much got crushed. Watch your step, I might've missed a bit."

I stared at him. "You have impeccably bad grammar," I couldn't help commenting. He grinned at me.

"Least I don't go for double negatives. Triple, sometimes, but not double."

"Hey, Rick, who're these people?" asked a childish voice. We all turned simultaneously towards a door. What was a little kid doing here?

She looked like a tiny, female version of Ricky. She was wearing clothes to big for her, obviously hand-me-downs. It was hard to tell, because her clothing was way to big for her, but she looked thin. Far too thin. Ricky was pretty thin, too, but his clothes fit a little bit better than hers did, so it wasn't as obvious. She looked to be about five years old.

Ricky sighed, moving to block something from view. "Amy, I told you not to come in this room 'till I'd got rid o' the broken glass."

"You did, you told them. And I'm NOT in that room. Hi, Tom."

"Hello, Amy." Tom's voice had hints of exasperation and affection in it. He evidently knew the girl. "This is my brother, Jake, or midget, his best friend, Marco, my cousin, Rachel, her best friend, Cassie, Rachel's boyfriend, Tobias, Tobias' mom, Loren, his dad, Elfangor, and Elfangor's brother, Aximili."

Amy giggled. "That's a funny name. Axi... Axi..." she frowned. "I can't say it."

"Call him Ax, then."

"I like Axi better."

"Then call me Axi," said Aximili indulgently. He seemed to be the only one unaware of how WRONG this was. No child should have to grow up in a place like this.

Tobias was, my consience reminded me. Amy seems happy enough.

She probably doesn't know any better, I argued.

"Thanks, Axi! I like you," Amy decided. The second comment seemed to be directed at all of us, at least partially. Ricky smiled.

"Okay, sis, you've said hi. Now go back to your room."

"WHY?" she whined.

"'Cause I've got a surprise for you and you aren't supposed to see it yet."

"Okay," she muttered sulkily. She left the doorway.

"It's Amy's birthday," Ricky explained quietly, once we heard a door shut. "I got her this." He turned to the box he had been hiding from her and extracted a white plush unicorn. "We always have a little celebration first. Not much, but some cake, and she chooses what we eat. Always burgers. This year's no different."

"That's probably a good thing," said Tom/Esp. "It's predictable, and otherwise you'd live off of pizza, Kraft Dinner and peanut butter sandwiches."

Ricky laughed. "True. You can join us, if you want."

"Actually, Ricky," said Tom/Esp, finally cutting to the chase, "we were hoping we could stay here for a week."

"No prob," said Ricky easily. "I'll go start the burgers. Let's see... that makes it... twelve. 'F anyone's a vegetarian, tell me now." Silence. "Oh, and Ax, Elfangor, 'f you two need to demorph..." he gestured around. "No windows, 'cept in Amy's room. Neither of us'll tell."

He went off to the room we later found out was both kitchen and dining room. We were all shocked. Marco broke the silence.

"When you said he wouldn't ask questions, I thought that you were exaggerating."

Tom/Esp appeared as shocked as the rest of us. "So did I."

Author's Note: What do you all think? I've got some ideas on what happens next—see if you can guess. Ideas would be appreciated, too.

(Hint: I 'named' Pete, but he's a minor character in the Animorphs stories. He becomes involved. Guess what role he plays in the books!)


	17. Ricky

Author's Note: Um... not much to say here. I haven't been able to update for a while because I went out of town for a week on a family vacation. I'll make up for it with a long chapter.

Disclaimer: Animorphs and related characters are property of Scholastic and K. A. Applegate

Claimer: Ricky, Amy, and Eftlak are property of ME!

Chapter Seventeen: Ricky's POV 

[I don't think this is a good idea, Ricky,] Eftlak told me, as I started the burgers. [You can barely afford to feed Amy and yourself already.]

[I'll work overtime or something. It's only for a week.]

[Well, I still don't think it's a good idea. Tom and Esp I trust, but what about those other people? What do we know about them?]

[We know that Tom and Esp trust them,] I pointed out.

[Granted. But they're both very trusting people. ESP trusts VISSER THREE, for heavens sake!]

[Visser Three's his twin.]

"Can I help?" someone asked me. Loren, I think. I shrugged.

"Plates are in the sink. There's about twenty. We don't use them much, but they can come in handy."

"Disposable plates?" Loren said inquisitively.

"Yeah, china's to easy to brake. Don't throw 'em out, though."

I turned back to the burgers. This always took a while. I didn't have a proper stove, so I had to use a microwave oven that I'd modified into a cook-top. Eftlak had helped.

[Ricky, PLEASE reconsider this. You can't feed nine extra people for a week!]

[We'll manage. I can't just turn them out, they're not built for the streets. I'd've thought that the Andalites could stay in the woods, though.]

[I cannot believe that you'd just let them stay without even asking why they 'need' to!]

[I'm sure they have a good reason, Eftlak. It may be better for us not to know.] I began flipping over the burgers. They were halfway cooked. They just needed a few more minutes. [The less we know, the less information we can reveal in torture.]

[How comforting. I feel SO reassured.]

"Ricky?" Loren said tentatively from behind me.

"That's my name, don't wear it out!" I quipped.

"Thanks. For letting us stay here, I mean. I know it isn't going to be easy..." She trailed off.

"Loren, meet Eftlak. I think you two would get along quite well together."

"What do you mean?"

"He's being very pessimistic about this."

Loren flushed. I could tell by her voice. "We... we didn't mean to cause trouble between you..."

"It's okay. Just one more thing to argue about." I laughed. "It'll help us with our compromising skills." I checked the burgers. "These're done. Dinner time!"

Amy had heard me. She came tearing out of her room like a wild animal. The others weren't far behind, though they moved at a much calmer pace.

I flipped the burgers off the stove and on to the buns with practiced ease, and handed on to each person. The two Andalites were back in human morph.

"Why is there an extra?" Loren asked.

"I told Pete he could join us if he was still sober," I explained. "He's probably sleeping it off."

Amy looked up from her burger. "He's nice when he's not drunk," she announced.

"Hey, Tom, Ricky, how do you two know each other?" asked Jake.

"Well, we are both in The Sharing," Tom pointed out.

"And Esp and Eftlak already knew each other," I added.

"We're from the same pool," Esp threw in.

"That's Sulp Niar, right?"

Eftlak proceeded to make me choke on my burger. "I can't believe you're STILL telling people that." Without waiting for a response, he turned to Jake. "Let me set things straight. Sulp Niar is a major pool on the Yeerk home world. As far as I know, no Yeerk from our pool has ever been to the home world. We were 'born', if it can be called that, in the first artificially made Yeerk pool to be taken off planet. It did not have a name. However, Esp was insecure about not being able to say which pool he was from—a standard part of Yeerk introduction—and since all three 'parent' Yeerks were from Sulp Niar, he began saying that he was, too. Though this may have also been because he was insecure about never having been to the home world at all."

Elfangor frowned. "If no Yeerk from your pool has ever been to the Yeerk home world, how did the Visser re-create parts of it when we accidentally created an alternate universe?"

"He probably accessed it through Alloran's memories," Esp answered.

"Is there any other misinformation you've given us that you would like to clarify?" Aximili demanded.

"No. Now are we going to tell you how Tom and Ricky originally met or are we going to play Twenty Questions?"

"You people use a lot of big words," Amy commented. "I'm done." She stayed still and waited for the rest of us to finish.

[I wonder where Pete is,] I said to myself. At least, I meant to say it to myself. Eftlak heard me, and thought I was talking to him.

[He either forgot, got drunk, or decided to stay home. Or some combination of those. Or all three.]

Everyone else finished shortly after Amy did. I went to get out dessert.

[We're lucky Amy wanted cupcakes instead of a real cake,] Eftlak commented.

[They're smaller, easier to eat, usually last longer, and, in Amy's mind, 'cute'.]

[I know, I'm just saying we're lucky about that. There're a dozen—one each and one for Pete if he shows up. He probably won't, though.]

We handed out the cupcakes, putting the extra one next to the extra burger. If Pete didn't show up, the burger would be Amy's breakfast tomorrow and the cupcake would be her dessert tomorrow night.

[It's sweet the way you always put Amy first,] said Eftlak. I hastily gave him control of the face so that no one could see me blush. [So,] he continued, [how are we going to feed nine extra people for a week?]

[I'll work extra shifts at my job. Boss will pay me overtime, and if he doesn't, I'll threaten to quit. I'm the only employee he's still got.]

[That's because you're so desperate for cash you'll take whatever you can. And he gives you discounts on regular shopping.]

Maybe I should explain that I work as a clerk, cashier, customer service rep, maintenance worker and janitor at a 7-Eleven. So far I've been through four armed robberies (three of which ended with the guys going to the hospital), ten shopliftings (all of which I handled discretely but effectively), and a series of attempted arsons by underage 'customers', outraged that I wouldn't sell them cigarettes. That's not even mentioning the many people who complained about the 'high prices' and 'bad service'. I didn't feel that either complaint was justified. Anyway, the job didn't pay much at first, but I'd gotten a raise every two months since I started—three years ago. I was twelve at the time.

Amy and I were half-siblings, related through our mother. Neither of us knew who our father was. Our mother had taken good care of us—she was the reason we had a house, and weren't living on the streets. She'd had temporary jobs as a waitress, a cashier, and an assistant at a Laundromat. There wasn't much money in any of the jobs she was given, but she was to honest, and proud, to steal from her employer. She was often fired for some reason—budget cuts, places going out of business, people applying who apparently needed the job more than she did, etc., but she still took care of us as best she could.

She was killed on my twelfth birthday. It was a hit and run—the driver was never found. Her death had been slow, painful. I'd been able to drag her off the road before it happened. I remember every detail perfectly.

"Ricky..." she'd gasped. Her breath rasped in her throat, it had to force its way past the blood. "Where's Amy?"

I'd actually felt resentful. She wanted Amy. "She's inside, Mom," I told her. "Are you okay?"

"Ricky... I'm dying..."

"No, Mom, you can't die," I'd whispered. "We need you..."

"I... I need you, too..." Her eyes lost focus. "Ricky... promise me that... that you'll ... take care of Amy... No matter what..."

"I promise, Mom. I'll take care of Amy. No matter what."

"Ricky... I... I love you..."

"I love you too, Mom," I'd whimpered. I remember wiping my eyes, and being surprised that my hand came away wet. "Mom?"

Silence. She was dead. I collapsed and cried for what seemed like hours. A police car came by and saw me. The officer asked me some questions—I lied for some of it, pretended that Amy was older than I was and I could stay with her. I had no intention of letting them take me to an orphanage. The officer took away the body. I applied for my job the next day.

It was the worst birthday of my life.

I'd gotten addicted to cigarettes when I was thirteen. Some packages had been ruined in shipping, and my boss let me have them. I'd gotten addicted to beer at about the same time, when Pete had offered me some. Amy had been quite upset when I came home drunk. I don't remember it, but she told me later that I'd yelled at her.

Amy was the reason I joined The Sharing. I'd heard about them, I forget where, and I thought maybe they could help. Like Eftlak said, I always put Amy first. I knew cigarettes and alcohol were bad for me, but without Amy as an incentive, I would have died drunk and smoking. (Although, without Amy, I probably wouldn't have cared enough to get a job, so maybe I would have just died drunk.) I'd hoped that The Sharing could help me to quit.

They did help, a bit. I had trouble organizing my job and the meetings to fit together without neglecting Amy entirely. However, this also meant I didn't really have time to smoke or drink anyhow. For some reason, I never mentioned Amy at the meetings. I didn't know why, but when I was made a full member, I was glad that I'd kept my mouth shut about her.

I was lucky to get Eftlak. He had some kind of disorder that made it impossible for him to completely control a host, so he immediately tried to be friendly. He agreed not to mention Amy if I agreed to keep his disability a secret. Amy would be to young for the Yeerks to use her as a full time host body, anyway, (or so he told me,) but she might be used as a 'practice host' or 'training host' for Yeerks who'd never had one before.

I would NEVER let Amy be infested. Even if she got a disabled Yeerk like Eftlak, or a gentle one like Esp, if I could prevent her from being infested, I would. She knew about Eftlak—at least, she knew what I had told her and she could understand, which wasn't much. Mostly she knew that he was a secret.

Everyone was eating his or her cupcake when I excused myself. I slipped into the 'den' and got Amy's present. She liked unicorns and stuffed animals, so I figured a stuffed unicorn would be the perfect gift for her, short of bringing Mom back to life.

I reentered the kitchen in time to see Amy finish her cupcake. She had frosting all around her mouth and a bit on her cheeks. I'd have to wash her face before she went to bed—she still hadn't mastered doing it herself.

"Oh, A-my," I singsonged.

"Hi, Ricky!" she said brightly.

"Happy birthday!" I announced, revealing the unicorn with a flourish. Amy squealed, jumped up, and grabbed me in a bear hug.

"Thanks, Ricky!" She examined the unicorn as I pried her off of me. "I'll call her Nicole. Nicky for short, so she's almost named after you!"

"Thank YOU, Amy. I'm honored." Somehow I managed not to laugh when I said that. Most of her stuffed animals—the unicorn made six—were named after me somehow.

Eftlak WAS laughing. [I wonder if she'll ever realize that Ricky is short for Richard.]

Author's Note: No more updates for a while because my parents are making me come camping. I'm not sure how long it'll be.

I am not going to have Pete come into this (which is a shame because he becomes a major character) until someone guesses correctly who he is. (Hint: people have been requesting him.)


	18. Tobias

Author's Note: Okay, I'm back.

yrkh8r: You can stop refreshing the screen now. (Pause) I SAID YOU COULD STOP!

Moonwolf: How dare erase your asterisk! It looks like a little star, really goes with the pen name somehow. I'm indignant for both of us. When are you going to finish 'The Vacation'?

Disclaimer: I own nothing EXCEPT: Ricky, Amy, and Eftlak.

Chapter Eighteen: Tobias' POV 

Amy went back to her room with the stuffed unicorn and Ricky began clearing the table. He gave each of the plastic plates a quick wipe with a wet washcloth and piled them on the counter.

"Hey, Esp," said Elfangor suddenly, "how come you never mentioned Eftlak before?"

"Well, 1) Rick's got a full time job, meaning that Eftlak barely has time to go to the pool every three days, 2) as I've said, this isn't the greatest neighborhood, 3) it might put Amy in danger if they were found out, and Ricky would never do anything that could endanger Amy, 4) Ricky's got friends who come by his house a lot, chances are they'd find out, and 5)... actually, forget about five. That's a private issue."

"It's also why Eftlak and I get along," Ricky added.

"I notice that you two don't argue out loud the way Tom and Esp do."

Ricky flushed. "That's the thing, really. We can't."

I cocked my head. "Can't? Why not?"

"Um..." Ricky hesitated. "Well... Eftlak's kind of... crippled. He can't... he can't take control of a host body. Well... he can, but only for a few seconds, and it really, really hurts him. He can get really tired just from controlling my mouth or my eyes."

"A Yeerk who can't control a host body?" Loren repeated. "That's ridiculous."

"That's FUNNY!" said Ax. He was making no attempt to hide his laughter. Ricky's eyes flashed dangerously.

"So is an Andalite without a tail," he retorted. Ax and Elfangor both paled.

"Are you threatening him?" Elfangor hissed. Ax didn't look even remotely amused now.

"No," said Ricky calmly. "I just don't think Eftlak being crippled is funny. I don't like people laughing at my friends."

"Truth be told, Eftlak was never been much into 'peace' before Earth," Esp commented. "That's the thing. I co-operated with my former hosts because I wanted to. Eftlak co-operated with HIS former hosts because he didn't have a choice. If any Yeerk other than me found out he couldn't control a host body, he would've been killed. He and Ricky are friends now, but if he had been born normal he'd probably have turned out like Esi."

Right then, Amy came in, looking particularly cheerful. "Pete's here!" she announced to the building in general.

"Good," said Ricky simply. "I'll show him in." He turned to us. "You guys want to meet him or hide somewhere?"

"He's here a lot, they might as well meet him and be done with it," said Tom/Esp.

Ricky nodded and headed for the door. I heard his voice at the entrance. "Hey, Pete. Come on in. Anything new in your life since last night?"

"Well, I've been sober for three hours. That's a record for me, I think."

I began to shiver. I knew that voice. I'd first heard it snarling, slurred by alcohol. I'd last heard it the same way. This had to be the fist time I'd heard it with any semblance of civility.

Ricky came back in, leading a large man with blondish-brown hair. He looked almost exactly like I remembered him. Except for his eyes. They were clear, alert—a sign that he was sober. I shivered even harder. My worst fear was confirmed. He was here, and sober, he would recognize me for sure.

"Are you cold?" Amy asked me, in the clear, carrying voice of a child. I tried to shake my head, to say something, ANYTHING, but I couldn't. My terror held me still.

Hearing Amy, the man turned to her. His gaze followed hers, and rested on me.

I saw his face perfectly. Sober, un-contorted, free of the rage it held when he was drunk, it faintly resembled my own. But the man it belonged to was nothing like me.

This was the man who had passed out in my room, who had yelled at me for no reason, who looked for any reason to pass me back to his sister. This was the man who had, on one occasion, come home, and mistaken his house for a gym and me for a punching bag. Often, I came home from school beaten up, and he would barely glance at me. He didn't care about me. But he didn't hate me, either. He was indifferent.

He continued to stare at me, and I continued to hope that I wouldn't be recognized. When I was trapped as a hawk, he was told I was with his sister, on the other coast. He had no reason to think that I wasn't, on the off chance that he ever bothered TO think about it.

Finally, he spoke. "Hello, Tobias."

I had the bizarre feeling that the whole group was holding its breath, waiting in edgy suspense for something to happen. His voice was calm and unsurprised. If he was surprised at finding me here, he didn't show it.

I tried to take a deep breath, but my throat wasn't working properly. I could barely get in enough air not to suffocate. I wanted to run, but my legs were even less co-operative than my throat. My voice, in comparison to his, was weak, high and shaky.

"Hi, Uncle Pete."

Author's Note: I know it's short, but... I WANTED TO WRITE A CLIFFIE! Besides, I've become possessed by the evil demon of writer's block and can't think of what to type next. That happens a lot when I reach potential cliffhangers.

Moonwolf, yrkh8r, congratulations. You guessed right! (Well, actually, yrkh8r was begging for Pete to be Tobias' uncle, but never mind that.) Opinions on how accurate Tobias' reaction to seeing his uncle again seems are welcome. As are any and all reviews.

Korean Pearl, I hoped you liked this. Please read above paragraph.

It does not, to my knowledge, mention Tobias' uncle's name in any of the books. I've checked books 1, 3, 13, 23, 33, 43, 49, The Andalite chronicles, Megamorphs 1, 2, 3, and 4, and Alternamorphs 1 and 2. So I made one up. If it DOES say his name anywhere other than the Internet, please correct me, but be warned—I'll check.

Oh, and Moonwolf: whose POV should be next? (This is NOT pity for FF.N erasing the asterisk. I honestly respect your opinions.) PLEASE keep writing 'The Vacation'! If you need help I can help you!


	19. Elfangor

Author's Note: I'm back! Sorry it took so long. Not vacation this time—writer's block, another (ORIGINAL) story, and laziness. Mostly laziness.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Animorphs... yet...

Chapter Nineteen: Elfangor's POV 

I recognized the man the minute I saw him. Loren's brother. We had hated each other with a passion. The sight of him always sent adrenalin slamming through me. I only hid it for Loren's sake.

Tobias was trembling. I felt my dislike of Pete increase violently. My son was terrified of him.

After greeting Tobias (with surprising courtesy) Pete turned to Ricky. "I'd better go."

"Why? You just got here."

"I'm seeing my nephew in your kitchen and I know he's on the other coast, so either I'm hallucinating or I'm drunk."

Ricky spun around to stare at Tobias. "You're related?"

Pete seemed equally surprised. "You can see him too?"

"He and some other people are staying here for a week."

Tobias made an odd squeaking noise, like a frightened mouse, and attempted to dive under the table. All he did was bang his forehead on it.

"Are you okay?" I demanded, coming closer. Tobias moaned. Pete's eyes snapped from Ricky to me, and I felt that I could hear his own adrenalin start pumping.

"Hello, Alan," he snarled. I heard Loren sigh from behind me. She knew we didn't like each other, but for some reason, she always felt that we should get along better than we did. I personally felt that not killing each other on sight constituted getting along very well.

"Hello, Pete," I said coldly. We eyed each other warily, sizing each other up.

"You haven't changed a bit," he observed.

"You have become a drunken imbecile," I shot back.

"ALAN!" Loren admonished. Pete turned to her.

"Hey, Loren," he said, somewhat more warmly. "Long time, no see. What on earth did you ever see in that guy?" He jabbed his thumb towards me.

Loren rolled her eyes. "Why can't you just accept that I love him and stop trying to break us up?"

"He DID abandon you."

I made to jump at Pete, but Ricky got between us. "Guys, please, chill." He turned to Pete. "They'll be staying here a week. You don't like it, to bad, so sad." He turned to me. "Pete's my friend, and, if I follow right, your brother-in-law. No fighting."

Tobias continued to make very strange noises. He sounded like he was ill. Ricky's sister Amy was standing next to him, eyes wide with concern. I had forgotten she was there. "Are you okay?" she asked him.

"Fine," he mumbled. At least, I think he was mumbling. He might have just been making an extra-odd moan.

"I think he's scared of me," said Pete matter-of-factly. "I got drunk a lot when he was with me."

I turned slowly back to Pete. "Sorry, Pete. I'm not sure I understood you. What do you mean by 'when he was with you'?"

He glared at me. "Since you ABANDONED Loren, she wasn't able to take care of YOUR kid, so she left him with our sister, and then our sister passed him over to me. As you can guess, I'm not parenting material, and neither was she. He's been shunted back and forth between us for years." If I had cared to notice, I would have noted that Pete sounded sorry for Tobias, but I was getting mad.

"YOU PASSED MY SON AROUND LIKE A PET NOBODY WANTED?" I roared. Now Tobias actually did get under the table.

"Well, that's not my exact phrasing, but basically."

"YOU—"

"May I remind you that there is a child present?" Loren interrupted.

"Amy's heard worse, believe me," said Ricky, scowling.

"That's no reason to swear in front of her!"

"I know, I'm just saying it won't matter very much."

"What makes you think that I was going to swear?" I demanded.

"Well, you are really mad."

"Perhaps I should just go," Pete suggested again. "Happy birthday, Amy—Rick, I'll see you in a week." He left before Ricky could protest again.

Loren turned on me. "You just HAD to argue with him, didn't you?"

"He started it!" I protested, sounding like a spoiled three-year-old.

"He said hello and that you hadn't changed a bit! You called him a drunken imbecile!"

"Are they always like this?" I heard Ricky ask Tom in the background.

"No, they're normally louder."

I bit back the retort I wanted to throw at Loren and turned back to my son. "Did you by any chance see how scared Tobias was when Pete came in?" I said quietly. Loren softened.

"Tobias? Are you okay?" Rachel asked. She, Cassie and Jake was trying to coax him out from under the table.

Tobias moaned again. "It's okay," Cassie reassured him. "He's gone. He's not going to hurt you."

"Has he ever?" I asked sharply. Cassie and Rachel both turned to Jake.

"We don't know," Jake answered cautiously. "Tobias got beaten up at school a lot, but nobody knew whether or not he was mistreated at home, too."

Aximili was standing in a corner looking shocked and confused. "What exactly was that all about?" he asked me.

"That was about various things. Loren's brother and I don't get along very well."

"Why not?"

"No particular reason, we just don't." Aximili still looked baffled.

"That explains why Tobias looked familiar," said Ricky simply. "Amy, bedtime."

His sister immediately left the room, hugging her stuffed unicorn. A few minutes later we heard a door shut.

"Well, I guess we have to decide who sleeps where," Ricky continued. "Someone can have my bed, I think the couch is sleep-on-able and I'm pretty sure we've got a two-person air mattress and pump for it somewhere. I'll go find it." Thirty seconds later, he came back with a folded air mattress and foot-pump. "I figure if someone helps, we can move the couch and clear the floor in the living room for it. I found some sleeping bags and blankets in the closet with these," he held up the mattress and the pump, "but I'll need some help to set them up."

He, Tom and I moved the couch and set up the air mattress. We all took turns at the pump—Aximili thought that it was pretty stupid, since it would probably deflate by morning.

It was decided that Aximili and I would sleep in our Andalite forms so we would have to wake up every two hours, and because we only had three sleeping bags. It wasn't a major issue—until Tom began sneezing non-stop. Aximili suggested that we could sleep outside, but Ricky argued that the neighbors would see us. Marco—startling everyone because he hadn't said anything in a while, and we had almost forgotten he was there—suggested that Tom sleep outside. No one thought that that was a good idea. Eventually, Ricky insisted that Tom take the bed and sleep with the door shut.

The rest of the arrangements were as follows: Cassie and Rachel shared the air mattress, Jake, Marco and Tobias slept in sleeping bags, Loren got the couch, and Ricky fell asleep in an armchair.

Author's Note: YEA! I'm done! Don't worry, Pete isn't gone for good—he shows up again later.

yrkh8tr: No, Pete is NOT Ricky's employer (though it would be funny if he was). Ricky is a clerk at a 7-Eleven, and it says in book 33 that Tobias' uncle works as a roofer. I'm not sure how old Pete is, so I'm going to say thirty-something. You are too kind.


	20. Aximili

Author's Note: I'm back! I had legitimate reasons for not updating—another week out of town. Dedicated to Kitten for pointing out the plot hole that got this chapter started.

Disclaimer: I own no character you recognize from anywhere else on FF.N or the Animorphs books.

Chapter Twenty: Aximili's POV

I was finally about to fall asleep when Tobias awoke with a sharp yelp. Next to me, my brother's eyes snapped open.

[What's wrong, Tobias?]

"Nothing. I just—"There was a series of crunching and slurping sounds and his voice was cut off. [I just remembered that I need to demorph,] he finished sheepishly in thought-speak.

Others had been awoken by Tobias' cry as well. A sneezing fit at the door announced that Tom/Esp had come to investigate. "What happened?" he asked groggily.

[Tobias almost forgot to demorph,] Elfangor explained. [Everything's fine, you should go back to sleep.] Tom/Esp nodded and left, grumbling about something.

The human called Ricky was discussing something with Tobias in a hushed voice. After a moment, Ricky took Tobias' place in the 'sleeping bag', and Tobias perched on the arm of the chair that Ricky had been sleeping on.

[You should go back to sleep, too,] Elfangor said privately to me a few minutes later, his main eyes drifting shut.

[BACK to sleep?] I echoed scornfully. [I never GOT to sleep.] My brother gazed at me with mild concern, but he was half-asleep already and didn't seem overly willing to wake himself up.

I felt restless. Everyone else was asleep. I wanted to sleep, too, (my body was exhausted) but my mind was to alert. After a few minutes of staring at the ceiling, I decided to explore the house. If we were going to be staying there for week, I might as well learn my way around.

What little I had seen so far was less than impressive. The area, which I had overheard Marco calling 'the slums', was in a general state of disrepair. I was not an expert, but I believed that this particular house was sub-quality, even in this area. Ricky clearly took descent care of it, which was probably why it was still standing, but there is only so much that one human can do.

I wondered why Ricky and Amy did not live with their parents, as the human Animorphs did. I estimated Ricky to be slightly older than Prince Jake. Tobias had been raised by his mother's relatives because his parents were presumed dead. Perhaps Ricky's parents were dead.

I came to a closed door. Assuming that it was Ricky's bedroom, where Tom was sleeping, I didn't open it. Next to it was another closed door. After some careful consideration, I presumed that one was Ricky's bedroom and the other was Amy's. I left both alone.

Amy was a sweet child, I thought. She didn't seemed disturbed in the slightest at the presence of strangers in her home, although if Ricky had protested she probably would have, too. She clearly idolized her big brother, and he seemed to care for her a great deal as well.

I came back into the room everyone else was sleeping in. There was nothing in the building that I found particularly interesting, and I was starting to wonder how we could stay here for a week without being driven certifiably insane from sheer boredom. I was also wondering how Elfangor and I were going to graze when we couldn't go to the forest and couldn't graze here either.

Suddenly, a metallic object caught my eye. I went over and picked it up. It faintly resembled a handheld Dracon beam or Shredder, except it was smaller. I inspected the hole at the end of it, wondering if it was a beam weapon.

[AXIMILI-ESGARROUTH-ISTHILL, PUT THAT DOWN THIS INSTANT!]

I jumped in surprise, dropping the weapon. My brother was awake and seemingly terrified. Everyone else was waking up again as well. The weapon landed on the floor with a CLUNK!

[WHAT WERE YOU DOING?] my brother roared, now furious. [WERE YOU TRYING TO GET KILLED?]

[What so dangerous about that thing?] I asked.

"It's a gun," Ricky mumbled, picking it up and putting it in a drawer.

[A gun?] I repeated. I had heard that word somewhere...

[A crude, projectile weapon that humans use to kill each other, animals, and sometimes themselves,] Elfangor explained, still rather hysterically. Now I remembered hearing the word on human television.

There was another sneezing fit from the general direction of the door, followed by a childish voice saying "Bless you."

"Thanks," Tom muttered. "What happened now?"

[Ax found a gun and Elfangor freaked out,] Tobias explained.

"So why'd he wake everyone else up?" There was a pause, and then Esp added, "you'll have to forgive Tom, he gets grumpy when he's woken up before sunrise."

[Well, I get grumpy when I do not get any sleep AT ALL. For instance, when someone yells just when I'm about to fall asleep,] I shot back, glaring at Tobias with one stalk-eye.

[Sorry,] he mumbled.

"Why do you even have a gun?" Tom asked Ricky.

"Oh, it's not mine. Friend asked me to keep it for him."

[Why?] Elfangor inquired suspiciously.

"Didn't ask," said Ricky simply.

"Do you ever?" Tom/Esp (probably Tom) asked in exasperation.

"Sometimes. Just when I've got to."

"It was a rhetorical question."

"I know." Ricky turned to Amy. "Amy, back to bed."

"Can't I stay up?"

"No, Amy. It's late."

"PLEASE?" Amy proceeded to make a very cute expression that humans call 'puppy-dog eyes'.

"No," said Ricky firmly.

"But Ricky..."

"No, Amy. Bed. Now." Recognizing defeat, Amy gave her brother a hug and went back to her room.

"Cute," Tom/Esp muttered. "I think I'll go to bed, too. Try and get a bit more sleep before dawn."

[Good luck,] Tobias muttered. [The sun rises in half an hour.]

Tom/Esp moaned. "Wake me up three hours AFTER dawn."

Author's Note: Voila! And here are the review responses.

Anicrazy: I believe that I have reviewed your stories at some point. I said I would review, and I did—just not every chapter. If you don't like Pete, you might not like my next chapter. It's his POV, and it shows him as a good guy.

Anonymous-cat: How come, for chapter 19, you gave me the same review twice? Was it an accident, or a bug in the system, or what? No, no real rap-up planned. I wasn't planning on Ax getting sick, or the Taxxon home world thing, or Ricky turning up. This is going to be a beginning to all the other Animorphs stories I'm planning to write, so I don't have to keep thinking up new ways for Elfangor to survive or come back to life...

Dragon: YOU READ THAT, RIGHT? YOU CAN'T KILL ME! EVER! THE STORY DOESN'T END! IF YOU DO KILL ME, YOU'LL NEVER KNOW IF I WOULD HAVE WRITTEN SOMETHING ELSE! (Besides, I was out of town. You killed and resurrected my sister. Mom and Dad were not amused.)

Y.G. : For chapter 14, did you give two of the same review on purpose or was it by accident?

Aldrea/yrkh8tr: Maybe your computer won't show it on the main list because it's rated PG? Thank you for all the reviews, you are very nice.

tayk: I don't know where the Mob went. Maybe they fell down a Plot Hole.


	21. Pete

Author's Note: Summer is, surprisingly, the worst time for story writing. Following chapters will be at least a week apart. 

Mob: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Me: Ah, the Mob returns. Where were you?

Mob: WE WERE ON VACATION!

Me: (Falls down laughing at the sheer irony of it all.)

Disclaimer: (I'm laughing too hard to say it, so the Mob does.) SHE DOESN'T OWN THE ANIMORPHS! SHE ONLY OWNS RICKY, AMY, AND EFTLAK!

Me: Gee, thanks.

Mob: NOW GET ON WITH IT!

Chapter Twenty-One: Pete's POV

I awoke at noon the next day with a killer hangover and Tobias' cat meowing in my face.

"Oh, shut up," I grumbled. That cat was such a pest sometimes.

I stumbled to my feet, splashed some water on my face, fed the annoying cat, and decided to go over to Ricky's place for a visit.

Halfway there, I remembered Alan. I also remembered Tobias, Loren, and the other people whose names I didn't know. I was mad at Alan, but I was also curious.

After a ten-minute debate, curiosity overwhelmed irritation. I decided I could apologize like a grown man—if Loren insisted on it, anyway. I personally felt that Alan was the one who owed me an apology.

When I got there, I knocked. I usually went right in, but with Alan there I was on edge.

"Hey, Pete. It's been a week already?" Ricky joked.

"Nah, I just can't stay away."

"Well, come in. Loren was ordering Alan to go find you and say sorry, but the only ones who know where you live are Tobias and me, and he's scared of you, and Amy didn't want me to leave. So I think you're safe here."

"Couldn't you have brought Amy with you?"

"Not if you were drunk," Ricky glanced at my reddened eyes, "which you were."

I winced. Ricky was very against Amy being near me when I was drunk. I would never hurt anyone on purpose, but when I got drunk I was unpredictable. Tobias' past injuries and current fear were proof of that.

"Well, come in, but don't expect a warm welcome," Ricky continued.

I followed him into the kitchen again. This seemed to be the general area Ricky used for visitors. My first impression was that it was very crowded.

"Hi, Pete!" Amy greeted me, with the enthusiasm only a five-year-old can muster.

"Hello, Amy," I said politely. Tobias dived under the table again. Alan moved to get between us.

"Alan, you are an adult, now act like one," said Loren firmly. Alan continued to glare at me. After a few moments, though, he glanced at Loren's equally angry expression and had to admit defeat.

"Sorry," he grumbled sulkily.

"As am I," I answered, as courteously as I could. "I ought to have given you the benefit of the doubt."

Alan looked rather surprised at this. Behind him and under the table, Tobias began to make weird sounds again.

"Are you okay, Tobias?" I asked him, crouching on the ground to see him better.

"He's still afraid of you," the black girl said timidly.

"Oh, right." I flushed slightly. I focused on the girl. "Who are you, anyway?"

"I... I'm a friend of Tobias'. My names Cassie."

"Nice to meet you." I glanced around the room. "Who're the rest of you?"

The tall boy with black hair stepped forward. "I'm Tom, I think we've met before." I nodded. He pointed to the boy with brown hair. "That's my brother, Jake," now the Hispanic boy, "his friend Marco," then the blonde, "and our cousin Rachel."

I nodded. Then I noticed one boy who Tom hadn't introduced. He was standing near Alan, and they seemed to be having a silent debate. "And who are you?" I asked him.

The boy began to speak, but Alan cut him off. "He's my brother."

"Ah," I said, rather amused. Then I addressed the boy again. "Well, do you have a name, or should I call you 'Alan's brother'?

He opened his mouth again, but was cut off again, this time by Amy.

"That's Axi."

"Axi?" I repeated.

"His real name's really long, so I get to call him Axi." Amy's face scrunched up in concentration. "His real name is Axi-mealy-Oscar-oath-Is-till."

I stared at the strange kid in shock. "That's... unique. Well... 'Axi'... can you speak for yourself or should I just ask Al why your parents named you that?"

"I can speak for myself," he replied, somewhat indignantly. "Ssssself. Sell-fuh. Why my parents - puh-air-unts - chose - chu-o-suh - to name me as they did did-duh, duh - is not your concern."

"I was wondering when he'd start doing that again," Marco hissed.

Alan turned on Amy. "How do you know his full name?" he snapped.

"You were yelling at him last night and you called him that."

"You also need to demorph," Ricky added.

All the kids tensed up for a moment, and then Tom laughed. "I completely forgot to mention—Ricky told Pete about the invasion a while after being infested. Pete covers for him at his job sometimes when Eftlak's feeding schedule and Ricky's work hours clash."

"You guys know about it, too?" I asked.

"Meet humanity's only chance of staying free and Earth's only chance of survival," said Tom, gesturing towards the kids. "They call themselves the Animorphs."

"The Animorphs?" I repeated skeptically.

"Yeah. I think it's an abbreviation of 'Animal Morpher', but according to Marco, who made up the word, it means 'idiot teenagers with a death wish'."

"Actually, both are accurate," Marco commented.

"Tobias? An idiot?" I asked. "Somehow I can't picture that."

"Tobias is a hero," said Alan through clenched teeth.

"You would think so," I said coldly.

"Are you calling my son a coward?" he asked furiously.

"Two hour time limit," Ricky said loudly.

"I'm not calling Tobias anything. I just said that you would, being his father, consider him a hero."

"Thirty seconds to go," Ricky announced.

Alan gave me a filthy look before he changed into an Andalite so fast the process was blurred. I stared at him for a while before I realized that 'Axi' had also turned into an Andalite and Tobias had turned into a bird.

"Okay. Let's back up," I said slowly, trying to process this new information. I turned to my sister. "Did you know that Alan was an alien?"

"Of course. I just didn't spread it around."

"Okay. I guess that's... good. So why is Tobias a bird?"

"It's complicated." By now, Tobias, Axi, and Alan were human again.

"MEOW!" The screech of a cat startled everyone. I saw a gray and black tabby cat pawing at the window.

"Dude!" Tobias yelled. "What's he doing here?"

"Dude?" Alan repeated. He sounded confused.

"Tobias' cat," I explained. "He must have gotten out. I left the windows open."

Tobias had run over to the window and let the cat inside. Dude purred loudly and rubbed against his legs. "I thought for sure you'd dumped him or had him put down or something," Tobias told me.

I laughed, shook my head. "No. I kept meaning to call your aunt and ask if you still wanted the dumb cat, but I never got around to it."

"Can I pet the kitty?" Amy asked in an awed voice. She really liked animals, but as far as I knew, she'd never had a pet of her own. Most cats were stays, and they'd bite if you messed with them.

"If he lets you," said Tobias. "Move slowly, don't scare him."

Amy slowly bent down and extended one arm reverently. Dude sniffed it, then began to rub against her as well. Amy giggled. "He tickles."

"He likes you," Tobias told her. Amy reached out with her other hand and began to stroke the cat's fur.

The two of them and the cat created an adorable picture. Amy was crouched on the ground, wide-eyed and enchanted, stroking the cat as he rubbed against her. Tobias was crouched a little ways off, smiling encouragingly.

"He's so soft!" Amy exclaimed suddenly. Dude appeared startled by the sudden noise, and Amy quickly realized her mistake. "It's okay," she murmured. "Nice kitty. Good kitty."

I remembered when Tobias had first found that cat. He was nearly ten, and he was in a park a short distance from home. Dude had been left in a tunnel at the park. He was just a tiny, half-starved kitten. Tobias heard him meowing and brought him home.

He was lucky that I was sober at the time. I wasn't overly fond of cats, or any animal, really, but it wasn't in my nature to kill or dump a helpless creature, especially since Tobias clearly had his heart set on keeping it. I told him, in a nutshell, that he would be responsible for 'it' and if it caused trouble, it would have to go. Being determined to keep his cat, Tobias did his best to keep us separated. It worked up until he disappeared. By then, I was used to Dude's company.

I had mostly allowed Tobias to keep 'Dude' because I felt that I owed something to him. He'd lost his parents, and I was never exactly parenting material. That was the main reason that I never got married. I got drunk a lot—it was my way to escape from pretty much everything. I was financially secure from my work as a roofer, but my work meant that I wasn't at home very much, and was also really straining. I had a short temper, little patience, and I felt a lot of anger towards Alan for leaving Loren. Somehow I could never hold anything against Loren herself. I saw her as the victim, although Tobias was equally victimized when first his father, than his mother, then his aunt, and finally I had denied him a normal family life.

Author's Note: I'm going to end it there—

Mob: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Me: Because I have writer's block.

Mob and Me: NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Me: Anyhow, review response time.

Dragon: Emotional scene provided. (Oh, and I was out of town. You killed and ressurected my sister. Mom and Dad were not amused.)

Korean Pearl: Tobias WAS abused by his uncle, but only when Pete was drunk, which he really can't be held responsible for.

Anonymous-cat: It's okay; I may have done that once or twice myself. Yes, Elfangor was being rather paranoid, but put yourself in his situation. He thought Aximili was dead. Then he found out that Aximili was not dead. Then he woke up and saw his little brother holding a gun and pointing it at himself. Naturally he'd be alarmed.

tayk: The Mob would like to speak with you.

Mob: WE'RE BACK! BUT WE'RE TOUCHED BY YOUR CONCERN!


	22. Esp

Author's Note: Hmmm. This is longer than expected. Ah, well. Here it is anyways. The triangle things still don't work. This chapter has minor swearing.

Mob: DOES THIS MEAN THAT YOU'VE KILLED THE WRITER'S BLOCK?

Me: Yup.

Mob: GOOD!

Me: I want to clarify something about the last A/N. Pete WAS responsible for getting drunk, but he had no control over what he did when he was drunk. He was addicted and lacked the willpower to quit. He was sufficiently indifferent to Tobias for it not to matter much to him.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Animorphs yet. Aldrea/yrkh8tr has promised them to me in advance for when she rules the world, but that hasn't happened yet either.

Chapter Twenty-Two: Esp's POV

As every Yeerk knows, feeding every three days is vital for survival. I hadn't fed in the past two and a half. The glitch in time travel had messed up my feeding schedule. The past me would be feeding tomorrow. Unless I chose to stave, I needed to feed TODAY. The hunger was making itself known.

[Esp? What's the matter?] Tom asked me. He sounded worried.

[I'm fine, Tom,] I tried to reassure him. Unfortunately I moaned just after saying that.

[No, you're not,] he argued. He scanned my thoughts—I had never tried to stop him. That was one of the ways I had gotten him to trust me. This time I did try, but it didn't work. I was weaker than I'd thought. [Esp, you're starving!] Now he sounded panicked.

"Tom, relax. It isn't like I'm not at the fugue yet," I said irritably. It was pure bad luck that caused me to say it out loud. I wasn't focusing.

Every eye turned to me. Most looked curious. Ricky and Jake looked scared.

"The fugue?" Jake repeated. "Isn't that the part of Kandrona starvation right before the Yeerk dies?" Now everyone looked concerned.

"The mistake in our time traveling WOULD have messed up his schedule," Elfangor realized.

"Time traveling?" Pete repeated.

"Yeah," said Tobias. "We'd explain, but you might say something when drunk that would get us killed."

Pete shook his head. "If I got THAT drunk, I'd also be completely incoherent. One of the reasons Ricky trusted me to tell me about Eftlak. So what's all this about time traveling?"

"It is verrrrrrrrrrry compuh—puh, puh, puh—licated. Ted-duh. Duh," Aximili commented.

"Why do you do that?" Pete asked, momentarily distracted.

"Do what? Wha-tuh. Tuh."

"That. The way you play with sounds. Why do you do it?"

"I en-juh-oy oy oy oy oy it."

Pete continued to stare at him. Elfangor was giving Pete a murderous look. "You should probably go," Ricky commented, noticing this.

Elfangor (in human morph, and sitting at the table) leapt up, grabbed Pete by the throat, and slammed him against a wall. Ignoring Loren's, Ricky's, and Amy's cries of protest, he leaned in close and hissed a threat.

"Don't ever mention us. To anyone. If you do... I suggest you start writing your will."

Pete, not seeming the slightest bit perturbed at being held to a wall by his throat, looked Elfangor straight in the eye and nodded solemnly, as best he could in that position. Elfangor let him go and he left.

"Was that REALLY necessary?" Loren demanded.

"I thought so, yes."

I interrupted this little family feud by an involuntary cry of pain. Jake and Ricky were at my side in an instant.

"Esp, you need to feed. Eftlak's due at the pool in five minutes. You HAVE to come."

"I'll blow our cover," I snarled, now only linked to Tom through his speech centers. I didn't want him to feel my pain.

Ricky hesitated. "Eftlak says tell you you're way too self-sacrificing for your own good and you're coming if we have to knock you out and carry you. He also called you a stubborn—" there was a pause. Than Ricky said in exasperation, "Eftlak, there's NO WAY I'm going to say that with Amy here." I stayed firmly where I was, not even letting Tom move very much.

"I can't be seen. I'll be recognized." Suddenly, Ricky smiled, making an offer I couldn't refuse.

"We could test your theory."

"Theory?" Jake repeated. I felt a thrill run through me. I liked testing my theories, but I rarely got a chance to do so. Most of them were rather dangerous.

"Yeah. Eftlak says that Esp has this theory that, since humans have to brain lobes, which are almost like different brains, two Yeerks could work with one human host—if the Yeerks and human got along, anyway."

Everyone stared at me for a moment. Then Marco shook his head and said; "That is perhaps the craziest thing I have ever heard."

"You would think so," Jake grumbled. "It may be weird, but it's brilliant."

"You would think so," Marco shot back, smirking.

"We can try, but there's no need," I insisted. "I am perfectly okay."

[Esp, stop trying to fool everyone,] said Tom. He was overly concerned. I was fine. [I'm not 'overly concerned', Esp. You are most defiantly NOT fine. Just GO FEED, for goodness sake!]

"I'm not letting you kill yourself!" Tom took control of the speech centers by accident. I didn't have the strength to fight him for them.

"Esp, please," Ricky said irritably. "You have to feed. Eftlak does, too. Let's just test the damn theory and go!"

I sighed mentally as I crawled out of Tom's ear. When Ricky got mad enough to curse in front of Amy, it was best just to do as he said. I was picked up and pressed against another ear immediately. I was more sluggish, no pun intended, about crawling in than usual.

[About time!] Ricky snapped when I finally reached his brain. [Make yourself at home, Eftlak's on the other side,] he added, a bit more pleasantly.

[Thanks,] I murmured, exhausted from the energy I spent coming in.

"Esp's in and real tired," Ricky announced. "We need to go _now_."

Amy ran over and hugged him. Ricky smiled as he hugged her back. "Be back soon," she pleaded.

"I will be, Amy," he reassured her. "Be good." He turned to Tom. It felt odd to look at him through someone else's eyes. "Tom, take care of Amy 'till I get back, will ya?" He hid his emotions well. Only the slightest tremor in his voice showed how worried he was about leaving Amy here with strangers. Still, he knew that he could trust Tom.

Tom nodded. "Sure thing, pal."

We left quickly. Ricky made good time towards the nearest Yeerk pool entrance. I was a bit surprised. It was a bathroom door at an old gas station with a sign on it reading 'Out of Order'. Ricky glanced around to make sure no one saw us before he opened it and slipped in.

Instead of a bathroom, there was a staircase. Ricky had only gone twelve steps down it when we could hear the screams.

[I didn't know about this entrance,] I commented.

[It's new,] Ricky explained. [There're quite a few Controllers near here, they needed a place they could all get to.]

[Ah.] Suddenly, a new thought struck me. [Hey, Rick? How are we going to hide the fact that TWO Yeerks will be infesting you?]

[My head's always shoved under all the way. Crawl in different ears.] I didn't respond, feeling embarrassed for not thinking of it sooner.

After another minute, during which I almost went mad with hunger, knowing that the pool was so _close_, we emerged into the underground cavern.

As always, I first focused on the cages. There were so many... most of them were full. I felt a burst of sorrow for their inhabitants. Then I glanced at the place where the voluntary hosts relaxed, seemingly oblivious to the despair surrounding them. Now I felt rage, not all of it my own. Ricky, Tom and I shared our feelings for THEM: total hatred.

We joined the line at the closest pier. It was easy to tell the two apart. On the uninfestation pier, everyone was calm until they reached the end. Then you got to see which hosts were involuntary, and which were... _traitors_. On the reinfestation pier, nine people out of ten were thrashing, screaming, and fighting the Hork-Bajir restraining them. Ricky would soon be among that ninety percent.

"You're early," someone commented behind us. Ricky turned, startled, but not showing it.

"Perhaps, Illim," he said coldly, "you are late." He acted the part of a cool, detached Controller perfectly.

Illim, a fellow Yeerk from my home pool, shook his head. His host, Mr. Tidwell, was a teacher at Jake's school. "I know the schedules. You aren't due for another five minutes."

"How long do you think this line will take?" Ricky gestured at the two Hork-Bajir, three humans and Taxxon in front of us. I groaned. This would take a while.

"Good point," Illim acknowledged. Ricky turned back to facing forward, thinking their discussion was over, when Illim continued. "How's Esp doing? I haven't seen him recently."

[DON'T TELL HIM I'M HERE!] I cried desperately.

[Don't worry, I won't,] Ricky said calmly. "He's fine, I think. His host hasn't been giving him much trouble lately."

"Lucky for him," said Illim casually. He seemed about to say more, but Ricky cut him off. "Look, Illim, I came here to feed, not socialize."

Illim fell silent. By now, the Taxxon, one of the Hork-Bajir, and two of the humans had been 'released'. The Taxxon went of somewhere, and the Hork-Bajir and humans were all dragged to the cages, screaming bloody murder.

The next human knelt at the end. She twitched slightly as the Yeerk left her ear, the gracefully got to her feet, and went over to the other voluntary hosts. I recognized her. Taylor. The host of Sub Visser Fifty-One. The only Yeerk in the Empire to be better than Esi at torturing people.

Ricky glared at her, but masked it well. Like Tom, he had had a crush on her before finding out about the Yeerks. Now he hated her with a passion. [How do you keep yourself from trying to rip out her throat?] I asked him, awed that he wasn't attacking her.

[What would be gained? I'd be dead, she'd get out unharmed, and Amy would be all alone.] I was impressed by his logic. This was the most articulate speech I'd ever gotten out of him.

The Hork-Bajir right in front of us was now bending over the pool. The three Controllers behind us jumped at his bellow of agony. So much pain was condensed into that one cry... I felt like I was being torn apart by guilt. My people had caused that pain. The Hork-Bajir wasn't much beyond adolescence. A kid. And he knew more pain than any living creature should have to experience.

He was putting up a good fight. One of the guards fell of the pier, into the pool. The other was given three broken bones—at least. One of the Controllers sent to escort the young Hork-Bajir to the cages was given similar wounds. The other drew his Dracon beam and stunned him.

[They always have to do that,] Ricky told me, clearly impressed. [He's vicious.]

[I don't blame him,] said Eftlak. This was the first thing he'd said since I came in. [Isn't he in the Visser's guard?]

Now that Eftlak mentioned it, he did look familiar. By now, I was too hungry to respond. Thank heaven we were next. Ricky stepped forward as the stunned Hork-Bajir was literally dragged away.

He knelt at the end. His head was submerged. I saw in his memories that the guards often held him like this so that he had less air and was less aggressive when Eftlak left. He acted this out to perfection.

I sensed the Kandrona waves close by. I had thought I was weak from my hunger. But no. I wasn't weakened—I was desperate. My desperation gave me strength.

I shot from Ricky's brain, through his ear canal, and into the sludge that was my home in a matter of seconds. I was soaking up those blessed Kandrona rays and almost collapsing from sheer bliss while Eftlak was still squirming out of Ricky's ear. I wondered, too late, what we would do if a fellow Yeerk saw us on sonar.

[I presume that the key word was 'yet'?] Eftlak asked me.

[What do you mean?]

[When you told Tom that you weren't in the fugue yet—I presume that the key word was 'yet'?]

If I could have blushed, I would have. [Yeah,] I said sheepishly. I did a sonar sweep on the pier. Now Illim was dropping in to the pool. I hid quickly.

He was overly conversational. If he noticed me, he'd tell the whole pool about it. I had my doubts about whether he understood the concept of a secret. He was very open, friendly, and trusting, but had a tendency to spread rumors. Actually, I had used him to spread misinformation before. That was years ago, and yet I still felt guilty about it.

Illim stayed away from us, though. I felt yet another surge of guilt as I remembered how coldly Ricky had dismissed him. He and Eftlak had been inseparable as grubs. They fit to a human saying Tom had told me about once. If you cut one, the other would bleed.

[Esp? Are you listening to me?] Eftlak snapped, deliberately bumping into me to get my attention.

[Where you speaking?] I asked, mildly surprised.

[Obviously,] he grumbled. [I asked if you felt like swimming or something, not just lounging around here.]

[Oh,] I said lamely. I did feel much stronger now. [Sure, why not?]

[Catch me if you can, then!] he cried, shooting off through the pool at speeds I hadn't known any Yeerk could reach.

It was one of the greatest times of my life. Eftlak and I shot around the pool like grubs, without a care in the world. But, like all good things, it couldn't last. All too soon, it was time to infest Ricky again.

It was tricky. Ricky did a good job of trying to squirm away from us. I was amazed that he didn't drown by the time we both got in and the Hork-Bajir let him up.

We left the pool and got back to Ricky's place in a matter of minutes. Amy greeted her brother as if he had been gone for years. Tom was waiting for me right behind her.

[Hi, I'm Tom, and I'll be your host this afternoon] he teased once I was back in his head, imitating a TV show host. [How did it go?]

[It went fine, I'm good for another three days, and I have had enough of that STUPID JOKE!]

Author's Note: Writer's block. It's a curse. I HAVE BEEN CURSED!

Mob: WELL, THEN, FIND THE COUNTER CURSE!

Me: THERE ISN'T ONE! I'M DOOMED! I NEED INSPIRATION!

Mob (to reviewers): YOU HEARD THE KID, GIVE HER SOME IDEAS!

Me (regaining composure): Thank you. Those who wish to criticize, please give ideas on improvement and remember that it is impossible to please everyone. I have a few, darker ideas, so this may not be a humor story much longer.

Aldrea: Thank you very much. I love cookies! Even cyber ones... How did you know Mokuba was my favorite? (hugs Mokie-plushy) So cute! Like Amy, but richer. When you rule the world, I would be honored to publish this.

Dragon: No, I don't have a twin at all. The sister in question was ten years older than I am.


	23. Arbron

Author's Note: Huh. I just noticed something odd: Arbron seems to have evaporated.

Mob: WELL, WHAT HAPPENED TO HIM?

Me: That's what I'm getting to. I think he deserves a chapter to tell his fans what happened to him.

Mob: DARN RIGHT HE DOES!

Me: Oh, be quiet. And be warned—it's rather short.

Disclaimer: As you all hopefully know by now, the Animorphs are not mine, and thus, neither is Arbron.

Chapter Twenty-Three: Arbron's POV

Typically, no one seemed to realize that they had left me in the barn, never mind realizing that I had to stay hidden for a week, too. I stayed in the same area as most of the uninfested Taxxons that the Yeerk Empire had stationed on Earth most of the time, but my Taxxon morph, being a tracker, had a distinctive scent as well as its distinctive sense of smell. In a best case scenario, someone would realize that there were two of me and ask me awkward questions. In a worst case scenario, my past self would discover me, panic, and kill me outright.

I tried going over my options. None of them sounded too good. If I stayed in the barn, I would be discovered, either by Cassie and the Animorphs or Cassie and her parents. If I went back to the tunnels, I ran the usual risk of being eaten or eating myself to exhaustion, with the added risk of meeting my past self. If I went to Loren's place, the past her would tell the past Elfangor about it, and my past self would find out.

Wait a minute. My brain slowed down, sped up, and reeled backwards at the same time.

Do you know how, in human cartoons, a light bulb turns on over a person's head when they have an idea? That's how I felt at that moment. I knew what I couldn't do, and now I knew what I _could_.

The tunnels. If I could use one of the older, abandoned tunnels, I could put myself into hibernation for a week!

Now I just had to figure out a way to leave the barn. The past Animorphs would be here soon. If I went out the front, I would be in plain sight of Cassie's parents. Leaving a hole in the barn's dirt floor was probably not the best idea. Decisions, decisions. Why couldn't things ever just be _easy_?

The choice came more quickly this time. I could risk Cassie's parents seeing me to avoid the past Animorphs from seeing me. They probably wouldn't even know what they were seeing.

I raced out of the barn and into the woods. There were no humans nearby. There was, however, an Andalite a short distance north. Most likely that was Aximili's past self. I bit into the dirt and started burrowing, determined not to be discovered.

Reaching the oldest tunnel that I was aware of didn't take a very long time. Settling myself down to hibernate _did._ Taxxons are restless creatures by nature, due to their constant search for food. It took me several hours of total inertia to calm down enough. I excited myself again when I brought the image of meat into my mind.

[Okay, Arbron,] I snapped at myself. [You are _going_ to calm down. You are _going_ to relax. You are _going_ to start a week long hibernation... right... now.] I gave my physical body the command to shut down. All Taxxon bodies have this reflex, so as to avoid hunger pangs when forced to go without food, and so that they can ignore their pain when and if they are eaten alive. My Andalite ability to keep track of time was miraculously still intact, so I was confident that I could wake myself up in a week, even if I _was_ forgotten by everyone else.

Author's Note: I-

Mob (angrier than usual): HEY! WHY DID YOU END IT THERE?

Me: As I was saying, I warned you that this would be short. I still have writer's block. This is a bit of an add-on so I can figure out what I did from Arbron.

Mob (still angrier than usual): THAT WAS WAY TO SHORT!

Me (sarcastically): Any ideas to make it longer?

Mob (rather embarrassed): NO.

Me: Oh, I should warn everyone that I'm back at school now, so updates will be father apart. Here are the review responses:

Dragon: I wasn't actually planning on killing anyone. Good idea, though... especially if 'The Illusion' doesn't prove inspiring... Maybe I will kill someone.

Aldrea: I'm not planning a sequel to 'Disclaimer', but then again I wasn't planning on writing 'Disclaimer' in the first place. I might, I might not. Plushies are unnecessary. Reviews will do. Sorry you're stuck with that Yami.

Tobias1452: Not a bad idea at all. That might happen. If it does, that chapter will be dedicated to you.

Korean Pearl: Read and review whenever it's convenient. I'll enjoy it any time. Don't forget my idea about Ax falling for Maya!

Anonymous-cat: Actually, when I said I couldn't please everyone, I was addressing some moron who said that they hated my story. If it were the first chapter, okay, people _are_ entitled to opinions, as we agreed, but really: WHAT KIND OF IDIOT READS TWENTY-TWO CHAPTERS OF SOMETHING THEY KNOW THAT THEY HATE? Kind of like Baranth with 'The Self-Insertion'... Different name though.

Al Fangor: I'm going to quote a fellow author here (I forget who) and ask: Did you actually read my story or are you just advertising? I happen to really like Cassie, and am not interested in joining a Cassie Haters' Club. If D.H. L'Orange wants to make that club, fine, but I won't be joining it. Sorry, Oh Burner of the Cassie Books and Recruiter of New Members. (Oh, by the way, Ricky _did_ go to the Pool. Were you intending to say Tom? Ask properly, and I'll explain.

Wraithlord42: I realize that you haven't reviewed in a while, but I just want to say the following: While I respect the individual's free will and right to personal opinions, I CANNOT BELIEVE THAT YOU SINK TO JOINING A CASSIE HATERS' CLUB! I hope that you are proud of that choice, because everyone who reads this now knows that you are The Tactical Officer In Charge Of Nasty Pointy Things For the Stabbing And The Slashing And The Ow-Ow-Ow-It-Hurts-Me (according to D.H. L'Orange's Bio.)

D.H. L'Orange: I like your story, too, but I disprove of this Cassie Haters' Club idea. I think she's sweet and her character is quite well developed. She's very spiritual. Still, as Anonymous-cat and I have been 'discussing', everyone is entitled to their own opinion.

galaxytree: Thanks. Perhaps you could provide some of this 'inspiration'? Yes, Elfangor had much more self-control in the Andalite Chronicles, but that was _before_ he met Loren's brother and developed a mutual hatred with him.


	24. Cassie

Author's Note: I'm back! And in defense of Cassie I am writing this chapter from her prospective.

Mob: DIE, CASSIE HATERS' CLUB MEMBERS!

Disclaimer: Animorphs are mine, The Mob agrees with me on everything, the moon is made of cheese, and if you believe any of this you should get your head examined.

Chapter Twenty-Four: Cassie's POV

Ricky took almost an hour down at the Yeerk pool. Tom was ready to have a nervous breakdown by the time that Ricky _did _finally get back. He was trembling when he took Esp and placed him next to his ear.

"I'm confused," said Ricky, once he pried Amy off him and sat down. "What's all this 'bout time travel?"

"Well," said Elfangor hesitantly, "we had to go forward in time for complicated reasons, and then when we were trying to get back we went back in time a week further than we meant to."

"I'm still confused. That's why you've gotta hang out here?"

"Yes." Ricky continued to look baffled.

"So," said Tom/Esp, deftly changing the subject, "will this be how things go every three days while we're back in time? 'Cause I'll need to change my schedule when I get back-"

"Nah, just sneak down there for the last feed, then follow the thing like normal."

"I'm not going to feed when I don't need to."

"Yes, you are, or you'll make people _suspicious_." Ricky clearly knew exactly how Esp could be manipulated. Esp had been in favor of starving himself rather than risk suspicion. I didn't know all the details, not being a Yeerk, but I'd been told that Kandrona starvation is very painful.

Esp made a growling sound. "You win," he snarled.

Ricky smiled benignly. "I always do." He stood up. "I've got to go to work, I'll be back tonight." With that, he left abruptly.

"Does he _ever_ take a day off?" Tom/Esp asked no one.

"He did the day you came," said Amy. My heart melted every time I looked at her. She was so cute. "What do you guys want to do?"

"What do you usually do when Ricky's not here?" I asked her. We'd been trying to get her to tell us about herself since Ricky left to take Esp and Eftlak to the pool. She didn't seem overly willing to tell us, though. This was starting to worry all of us.

"If he's at the pool, I wait. If he's at work, I play Game."

"What game would that be?" Loren prodded gently.

"Not _a_ game. It's _called_ Game," said Amy, like that was obvious. To her, it probably was. "I pretend stuff."

"That sounds fun," said Loren, apparently intent about entertaining the five-year-old. "Could we play, too?"

"Okay!" said Amy eagerly. She probably didn't have anyone to play with most of the time. She ran off and came back with a bunch of stuffed animals. "You can play Ricky Junior," she said, handing Loren a ragged Cabbage Patch Kids doll. "You can be Bunny," she added, handing me a toy rabbit with chewed up ears.

She turned and looked at Rachel hopefully. "You want to be Becky?" she asked, holding up an old stuffed turtle. Rachel smiled at Amy, who took that as a yes. She joyfully handed the turtle over, and approached Tom. "You can be Remy, like last time," she declared, earning Tom several surprised looks as he graciously accepted the dog. She then turned to Ax. "Hey, Axi, do you want to play? You can be Owl." She held up a stuffed bird that I was pretty sure was a parrot.

Ax looked completely lost, but nodded, a human gesture he had picked up. Amy beamed. "And I'll be Nicky," she announced, holding up her new toy, the unicorn. She then looked at Elfangor, Jake, Marco, and Tobias, and got a guilty look on her face. "Or maybe we should all share the toys," she said, more quietly. "Or take turns. That way nobody's left out."

"It's alright," said Tobias, thinking fast. "You can pretend it's a play and we've come to watch or something."

Amy looked puzzled. "What do you mean?"

"A play is when people act out a story," I explained.

"Like a fairy tale? Could we do _Sleeping_ _Beauty_? Are there enough people?"

"Why don't you count? Can you?"

Amy beamed. "A little." She surveyed the room. "Ricky Junior and Becky can be King and Queen, Bunny and Owl can be the good fairies, Nicky can be the princess, and Remy can be the prince. We need an evil fairy."

"Maybe Remy could be the evil fairy _and_ the prince," Tom/Esp suggested. "They're never together."

"What are you all talking about? A-bou-_tuh_. Tuh."

"It's a human story, Ax," I told him. Everyone else decided to help me out, and we spent the next few hours trying to explain _Sleeping Beauty_ to a very perplexed Andalite.

Suddenly, we all jumped at the sound of a door being opened and shut. Ricky came in a moment later.

"You're home early," Amy commented innocently. She gave her brother a curious look.

"Boss has something happening at the store soon, so I'm off shift."

Amy cocked her head. "Why?"

"I don't know why. I just know it happened."

"Any idea what's going on?" I asked. Ricky shrugged. I remembered Tom/Esp telling us that Ricky didn't ask questions.

We were all starting to chat about five minutes later, no particular subject, when somebody knocked.

Ricky jumped to his feet—he had been sitting on the floor, chatting with Marco—and stared at the door like it was about to attack him.

"What's wrong?" Tom asked, also looking apprehensive.

Ricky turned to Tom with a look of utter shock on his face. "You're the only person who ever knocks."

Author's Note: Cliffie! I'm so evil! Though I'm not as evil as writers' block...

Anonymous-cat: Yes, Taxxon hibernation was mentioned in book 43. Good idea—Let's all have a Cassie's Defenders' Club! We protect her and prevent unnecessary pain on her part!

Korean Pearl: Yes, they are waiting a week to catch up with themselves, and yes, I have read The Healing. I really like it. I think that you're using the idea I suggested, with the Yeerks seeing Maya in Elemaki form and thinking she's an Andalite.

galaxytree: I don't know if it's against the rules. I suppose if you post it all at once it won't be, though. Sorry about the frustration. It doesn't keep you from writing, though—use a notebook if you must. What rule did you supposedly break? (If you don't mind my asking.)

Tobias1452: It is I who should be thanking you. You rock! You're brilliant! I love cookies!

Aldrea: I'll stick with this curse, thanks. If one of its curses was destroyed, the Demon of Writers' Block would be out for revenge, and then we'd _both _be in trouble. I appreciate the offer, though.

tayk: I agree: school is too easy. What's worse, it takes away time that we could spend reading, writing, and reviewing!


	25. Eftlak

**Author's Note:** This is the (I hope) much anticipated chapter from Eftlak's point of view!

Mob: THAT TOOK LONG ENOUGH!

Me: Oh, shut up. Mom hauled me off of the computer for the while. I'm only allowed to use it on weekends until vacation now. Oh—and I kind of don't think that this chapter is humorous.

Disclaimer: As if we all don't know by know, the Animorphs are not mine. I wish they were. Then again, I also wish that I had a boyfriend. Neither wish has come true yet.

Dedicated to Tobias1452.

Chapter Twenty-Five: Eftlak's POV

Ricky wasn't being completely accurate. Pete had knocked when he last came over (probably out of fear of Elfangor). But Tom had a very distinct knock.

And Tom's knock was the one being employed.

In moments, most of our 'guests' had become cockroaches, Tom had dived into Ricky's room, Loren had stood in the middle of the room, baffled, until Tom had come back and dragged her into Ricky's room too, and Amy was given firm instruction to keep our visitors a secret.

"I like secrets!" she announced. "I can keep it." She then went back to playing with her toys like nothing had happened.

"Yo, Tom," said Ricky as he answered the door. "Ya do know knockin's unneeded, right?"

(His knocking may have just saved us,) I pointed out.

(I've gotta play the part, dude.)

(Whatever.)

"I try to be polite, Rick. Listen, we need to talk."

Rick stood back and let Tom in. I noticed a handheld Dracon beam sticking out of Tom's pocket. Did he go anywhere without it?

"You know those 'Andalite Bandits' Esi keeps complaining about?" Tom/Esp asked us. Ricky nodded. "Well, for some reason, he thinks that they're hiding out in this area. He wants to search the neighbourhood—nobody around here would call the police. I figured you should be warned—if he decides to search your place he'll find Amy." That was as far as Tom got before Ricky was attacked by a streak of supremely ticked blue fur.

(I KNEW WE SHOULDN'T HAVE TRUSTED A FILTHY YEERK! YOU TOLD THE VISSER ABOUT US, DIDN'T YOU?)

(Aximili-Esgarrouth-Isthill, BACK OFF!) his brother yelled. He might as well have told the couch to tap-dance for all the good it did.

"Ax, chill! He's not a traitor!" Tom raced out of Ricky's bedroom and proceeded to shield Ricky from Ax's tail using his own body.

Needless to say, the Tom who had just entered the house was rather confused. "Um... what's going on? And why are there two of me?"

Everyone, even Aximili, stopped dead.

(Gee, _nice_ going there, Ax-man,) said a sarcastic voice that I recognized as Marco's. (We really _needed_ to get caught. Things are _so boring_ when we aren't being held prisoner.)

(Shut it, Marco.) I'm pretty sure that that comment was voiced by Jake. (It's the past version of Tom and Esp. They aren't going to kill us.)

(Hello, Tom. Esp,) said Elfangor politely.

"Elfangor? What are you doing here?"

(It is very complicated. Would you mind... um... leaving? And acting as though none of this ever happened? And not mentioning it to me for at least two weeks?)

"Actually, I would mind. What the heck is going on?"

The, shall we say, Future-Tom suddenly collapsed with a yelp of pain. Jake also yelped, demorphing as quickly as he was able.

"Midget? What are you doing here—did you just morph from a cockroach?"

Let's call the Tom who had just shown up Past-Tom, shall we? To me he seemed like he was from the present, but in relation to Future-Tom and the Animorphs he was from the past.

Anyway, everyone proceeded to ignore Past-Tom and focus on Future-Tom, who seemed to be having a sort of seizure.

"Fascinating, the way paradox warps one's mind, isn't it?" We all turned to face... well, to be completely honest, I'm not sure what it was. It appeared to be a glowing red eyeball, floating in mid-air. Creepy.

"Crayak," Jake whispered.

"Jake," the eye responded smoothly. How could it talk without a mouth? This wasn't thought-speak—this was spoken sound. "I promised you I would have revenge. This is—what? The _third_ time you've destroyed my plans. You've saved the Iskoort, the Chee, the Taxxons, and your ungrateful Andalite friend. You've forced me to destroy my Howlers. I feel that I deserve some form of compensation."

"Then take me!" Jake said boldly. Did he have a death wish? Future-Tom was obviously being tortured. New memories from almost a week ago, warping the events in between, were forcing their way into his mind, I realized. That was why Past-Tom wasn't in pain. "Why Tom? He hasn't hurt you."

It was like some kind of reversed cliché. A younger sibling, risking torture and possibly death to save their elder sibling. Crayak seemed to have thought along those same lines.

"It is classic among sentient beings to feel more pain over the death of a loved one than they would over their own death. Pathetic, but it serves my purpose. I can cause you great pain without going after you personally." Crayak was sick. His hypnotic voice proved it. Only a sick, twisted mind could enjoy that sort of thing. "First your brother. Then your parents, one at a time. Then your cousins, and finally your pathetic friends. And it will never be my fault."

(What's that supposed to mean? You kill them, it's your fault!) Elfangor argued.

"Accidents can happen. Him, for instance. A paradox created memories that don't exist and altered events have already happened, thus damaging the brain." I somehow got the feeling that the eye was smirking.

(I'm lost. Who's this Crayak dude?) Ricky asked me. Nonetheless, he moved in front of Amy, blocking her from the eyeball-thing's view.

(Your guess is as good as mine, pal.)

"What's going on?" Amy whimpered.

"Tom's hurt, Amy. We have to say back. Did you see that floating eye?" She nodded. "That's a bad guy. Stay away from it." This was over-simplifying thing a lot, but it was all Ricky could do to help the kid understand.

For some reason, the creepy floating eyeball pointed itself at us. "A child," it observed. There was a sick amusement in its voice. "Shame it won't live to grow up."

"Is that a threat?" Ricky snarled. I was suddenly treated to the experience of Richard snapping from 'Nice Ricky' to 'Street Ricky'. Nice Ricky was at home (and his job, for the most part.) He took care of Amy, loved her, protected her, and all that sentimental stuff. He was the gentle, sensitive guy she always ran to when she had a nightmare.

Street Ricky was another matter. He was the hard-as-steel, tough-as-nails exterior Rick slipped on when Amy wasn't there. He swore, fought, would steal if he weren't too proud to do it, and had a nasty reputation, guaranteeing that Nice Ricky wasn't given trouble. He was the result of life in that neighbourhood, the bitterness and anger Ricky had penned up when his mother died. There was a cold glint in his eye that could make even the toughest guys decide to look for trouble someplace else.

"No. It was a fact."

(He's lying! He's trying to get your temper up so that you'll do something you'll regret!) I hissed.

"I assure you, Eftlak, that I am being most honest." There was another smirk from the freaky floating eyeball. "As I said, accidents can happen."

Future-Tom, still caught in the spasm, suddenly lashed out and hit Amy. She, being a small and distressingly light little girl, flew and hit the wall. Her head made contact first—we all heard the sickening crack of shattering bone.

Rick ran over to his sister, but he was to late. Unlike his mother, Amy had been killed in a few seconds. "Amy?" Ricky asked quietly. There was no answer. There never would be an answer.

In the background, I was aware that Future-Tom was no longer screaming. He had stopped twitching too. In fact, he was getting up. He slowly took a step towards Ricky.

Ricky, however, was oblivious to everything except his sister's corpse.

He was crying. I had only ever felt Ricky this upset when he had a nightmare about his mother's death. This was different. This was not a memory—this was _now_. Amy was the only reason Ricky had kept going, and not lain down and died the instant his mother had.

"Please don't be dead, Amy. Please don't be dead. I promised Mom I'd take care of you. I've done such a lousy job. I'm so sorry Amy. I love you." Nice Ricky was the one who said all that. I'm pretty sure he died once he was done. Street Ricky took over, and a rage like never before tore through him. He turned around to face the deadly silence.

"You killed my sister," he hissed—and lunged, determined to do the same to his target.

**Author's Note**: See what I mean? Amy's dead (WHICH I WAS NOT INTENDING TO HAPPEN!) and now Ricky's out to kill.

Review Responses:

Dragon: Um... Do you want some anger management courses? Yelling at Animorphs 54 can be therapeutic. Oh, and I thought that the title was losing relevance.

Aldrea: Congratulations. I tried out for cross-country, but I've got NO endurance at high speed.

Thalanox: My page breaks won't upload. Wahhhhhhhhh!

Cor-chan: Okay, out of OMGWTFBBQ, I figured out Oh My God What The F, but not the BBQ part. Sorry about the cliffies. I didn't think that updating would take this long.

Rachel9466: I have a feeling that I should know this, but I don't, so I'll ask—who is Aflac?


	26. Esp

**Author's Note**: I—

Mob: DIE! DIE! YOU KILLED AMY! AND FOR THAT YOU MUST DIE!

Me: AS I WAS SAYING, I know that people are slightly less than pleased with how the previous chapter turned out. I was not overly thrilled myself. But, I'm pretty sure that Amy being dead will turn out to be important in some way.

Mob: YOU'RE JUST SAYING THAT TO GET OUT OF BEING BEATEN TO A BLOODY PULP!

Me: Well, that too. Sorry this took so long to upload.

Mob: IF YOU'RE NOT, YOU WILL BE!

Disclaimer: I forget—do I _need_ to post one of these in every chapter, or just in every story? Because really, if I did own the Animorphs, the series wouldn't have ended with that crappy cliff-hanger.

**Chapter Twenty-Six: Esp's POV**

I braced myself for Ricky's attack. Tom felt that he deserved the pummeling we were both sure was in store for us. Eftlak once told me that Ricky seemed to have a split personality. This must have been his harsher side.

Strangely, Ricky ignored us completely, instead attempting to attack Crayak. He was swearing violently, and his language became fouler than ever when he was held back by a bizarre red glow.

"Foolish human," Crayak sneered. "You cannot harm me. Do not waste your energy trying."

Ricky responded by saying something particularly rude—in Taxxon. Where he had learned it was beyond me. Actually, chances were that it was me. My language could be nasty when I was mad. Still, I didn't think I'd ever been mad enough to say _that_. To rephrase it politely, Ricky was telling Crayak to flush himself down a toilet.

CALM YOURSELF, RICHARD. Oh, great, Ellimist was there too. Ricky ignored him. I SAID CALM YOURSELF!

All of a sudden, we were back in Cassie's barn. A glance at the calendar revealed that we were back in the proper time. Crayak, Amy, and my and Tom's past selves weren't with us. Erek and Arbron were.

"Ricky?" Erek asked. They also 'knew' each other through The Sharing. Rick was still cursing, and now was strangling the air. He and Arbron both stiffened—Ellimist must have been explaining. "Whoa."

"How do you feel, Rick?" I asked.

"Like someone just tried to rip me apart," he said coldly. "I am going to kill him."

(I hope 'him' is referring to Crayak,) Tom thought to me.

(So do I. If Ricky is talking about us, I suggest we start running as soon as we find out.)

CRAYAK IS IMPOSSIBLE FOR A HUMAN TO KILL.

"Eftlak was right," Ricky snarled, glaring at us. "Letting you stay _was_ a bad idea."

"Should I go?" Erek asked, rather awkwardly. Jake nodded, and slapped his forehead once Erek left.

"How is it that we didn't think to ask the _Chee_ to help us hide out?"

"Because we're idiots," Marco explained, like this was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Crayak supports the Yeerk Empire, right?" Ricky asked.

YES, Ellimist answered. TO A CERTAIN EXTENT.

Ricky turned to the rest of us. "You fight the Yeerks. You need help?" Jake nodded, not sure where this was going, and probably not liking the feral glint in Ricky's eyes any more than Tom and I did.

Ricky clenched his hands into tight fists and gritted his teeth. "I'll help. If I can't kill Crayak, I'm sure as hell going to hurt him."

**VERY IMPORTANT AUTHOR'S NOTE**: For those who have been wondering, let's just say books 1-10 (including Megamorphs 1) have happened, skip 11 because I didn't like it, then book 12 and 13, Megamorphs 2, books 26 and 27, book 15, then this story.

**Sad Author's Note**: This particular story ends here.

Mob: NO! IT CAN'T BE OVER ALREADY!

Me: Sorry!

**Happy Author's Note**: Ihave a plan (yes,_ plan,_ improving got Amy killed,) for the sequel. I don't to ruin the plot, but I will anyway: Ax gets amnesia and ends up on the Andalite home world, where he goes berserk when someone says he's related to Elfangor, because his memory's all messed up and he thinks Elfangor's a traitor.

Mob: IT HAD BETTER BE GOOD!

Me: I think it will be. There's other stuff in it too, but I've said too much already. I need ideas for a title!


End file.
